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All I can say is ummmmmmm... what?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10126875
Dubai bids for Legolands as it seeks home for oil wealth
23.05.05
JORDAN - Dubai's Government buyout fund is bidding for Lego's Legoland amusement
parks two months after acquiring London's Madame Tussauds waxworks museum as the
emirate uses its oil wealth to invest in Europe's entertainment industry.
"We will look to consolidate in the theme park sector in Europe through
Tussauds," Dubai International Capital chief executive officer Sameer al-Ansari
said in an interview in Jordan.
"We can't comment on how much we bid for Lego's parks," he said
Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates, which is using a windfall profit from
record oil prices last year to double revenue from tourism in the next decade.
Billund Lego, based in Denmark, put its amusement parks up for sale in October
as it tried to revive its business making toys such as Duplo building blocks.
The company had its third annual loss in five years last year.
The Dubai fund in March paid 800 million ($2 billion) for Tussauds Group, whose
London waxworks includes models of celebrities including David Beckham, Brad
Pitt and Kylie Minogue.
The Chessington (England) company also runs theme parks such as Alton Towers and
Chessington World of Adventures.
Legoland runs four parks in Denmark, Germany, England and California. The parks'
attractions include lifesize Lego models of giraffes and hippopotami.
Buyout firms including Blackstone Group, Palamon Capital Partners, Spectrum
Equity Investors and Apollo Management may make offers for Legoland worth more
than 400 million, the Financial Times reported last month, without saying where
it got the information.
"We expect the sale to be completed in the summer," Lego spokeswoman Charlotte
Simonsen said. She declined to give details about specific bids the company had
received.
Dubai may spend US$3 billion ($4.2 billion) to US$5 billion a year over the next
five years to buy assets around the world, al-Ansari said. In January the
emirate bought a US$1 billion stake in the German carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG.
- BLOOMBERG
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