Vivendi Universal SA, the world's second-biggest entertainment company, will own at least 25 percent of its first theme park in China that it plans to build with local partners in Shanghai.
Vivendi Saturday signed an investment agreement with partners Shanghai Waigaoqiao Group Co, a property company, and hotel operator Shanghai Jinjiang (Group) Holdings Co. The companies declined to confirm a report in the Asian Wall Street Journal this week that the park would cost US$870 million to build.
"It has to qualify as a foreign joint venture, so let's leave it at Universal will have at least 25 percent stake," said Glenn Gumpel, president of international business affairs at Universal Parks & Resorts. He declined to disclose the size of the investment, nor the stakes of Vivendi's partners.
Vivendi is trying to scale back many of its operations elsewhere, as it sells assets to reduce debt and rebound from the largest net loss in French history. Shanghai's rising affluence and tourism potential are luring foreign investors, including rival Walt Disney Co, which may also build a theme park in the city.
Shanghai, China's commercial capital, attracted 2.4 million foreign tourists and as many as 83 million visitors from other parts of the country last year. The addition of a new theme park will help fuel further growth, said Hu Wei, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai city government.
The park's construction, which still requires central government approval, is expected to add 10,000 jobs in Shanghai and generate as many as 10 times that in the hotels, transportation, insurance and financial industries, said Hu.
``The Shanghai theme park will contribute billions of dollars to Shanghai's economy during the construction phase and will add nearly an additional billion dollars during its first year of operation,'' Gumpel said.
The companies plan to start building the park next year on a 255-hectare site a few kilometers away from the 2010 World Expo site in the eastern Pudong district. The park is expected to attract 8 million visitors in its first year once it opens in 2006, company officials said.
Shanghai's population of 13 million generated average gross domestic product of US$4,500 last year, the highest among China's municipalities and provinces.
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