Disney in talks for Singapore Disneyland
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 6:16 am
From <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/S ... etWatch</a>
Singapore and Walt Disney Co. (DIS) are in talks to build a theme park near the country's financial district, local media reported Friday citing unnamed sources.
The Straits Times and Today newspapers said the proposed theme park will be located at Marina East, and will cover a land area of around 30 hectares.
No financial details were provided, but suggestions that Disney could get prime land to build a theme park without going through a tender will unsettle bidders for a family-themed integrated resort with casino on the resort island of Sentosa.
Bidders for the Sentosa site include Genting International PLC (G13.SG), which has promised to build a Universal Studios theme park if successful, and a joint venture between Kerzner International Ltd. (KZL) and Southeast Asia's largest developer CapitaLand Ltd. (C31.SG).
The tender for the Sentosa site closes next month.
Business Times, another Singapore newspaper, said preliminary discussions about the Disney theme park in Singapore involved CapitaLand, which recently set up a new leisure business arm called CapitaLand Integrated Leisure, Entertainment and Conventions.
CapitaLand, which is 42% held by Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., declined comment when contacted by Dow Jones Newswires.
But Business Times quoted Disney's corporate communications director for the Asia Pacific, Alannah Goss, as saying: "Singapore has long been a good market for Disney and its position as a hub in South-east Asia continues to develop. We continue to evaluate the market but do not have anything to announce at this time."
According to local media reports, Disney first held discussions with Singapore in the mid-1990s after the government identified a site in the Seletar area. However, plans fell through because Disney was apparently not prepared to pay for the 300 hectare site in northern Singapore.
Should Disney decide to build a theme park in Singapore, the park will be its first in Southeast Asia and the world's smallest. While the Marina East site is around 30 hectares, the Disney resort in Hong Kong covers 126 hectares while the one in Tokyo occupies some 200 hectares.
The reports of Disney's interest in Singapore comes several months after Disney denied it had plans to build a park in Malaysia, even though government officials there said they had been in talks to develop one.