Merlin Entertainments to Open First Legoland Park in South Korea

The British operator Merlin Entertainments Group (Merlin) recently announced to open the first Legoland Park in South Korea in 2017. Only some months ago, plans were announced for a park to be built in Nagoya/Japan, which is also set to be completed by 2017 (cp. EAP news from June 30, 2014). The first Legoland Park in Asia has been in operation in Malaysia since 2012. LEGOLAND Korea will be located upon the island of Jung-do in Chuncheon, about an hour’s drive from Seoul. Similar to the structure planned for Legoland Japan, the Korean park will also be financed under an ‘operated and leased’ model. The total investment is estimated at a cost of 300 billion KRW (217 million EUR) of which Merlin will invest approximately 100 billion KRW (72 million EUR) predominantly in the branded assets. According to the announcement, the remainder of the assets, primarily to be invested in the park infrastructure, will be funded by a property company owned by a consortium of local public and private investors. (eap)