Walt Disney to build new theme park in China
10 Jan 2009
The Walt Disney Co. says it is submitting a plan to build a $3.59-billion theme park in China - its second in the country - in alliance with the Shanghai government for approval from China's central government.
Leslie Goodman, a spokeswoman for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in a statement, "Discussions have been ongoing about the feasibility of a theme park project in China."
"We worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government which will be submitted to the central government for review. No deal has been signed, no project has been approved."
Though no agreement has been reached Disney is beleived to have proposed taking a 43-per cent stake in the park in exchange for its investment in the project, leaving the majority 57 per cent for a Shanghai government-owned enterprise.
The US entertainment giant has proposed a site on the outskirts of Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, a largely rural area. Disney is said to have been eyeing Shanghai for over a decade.
The first phase of the Disney Shanghai project will come up on 1.5 square kilometers and house a theme park, a hotel and shopping complex. The new theme park is expected to be developed over six years and become fully operational in 2014.
For China this will be one of its largest-ever foreign investments, and is particularly important for the government as it comes in the backdrop of the ongoing global slowdown caused by the credit squeeze in the aftermath of the US sub prime crisis.
Parks and resorts are Disney's second-largest business after media networks, contributing around 30 per cent of its total revenues.
