MBK Partners pays US$1 billion for five maritime theme parks from Haichang to tap China’s growth potential in amusement parks

MBK Partners has bought five maritime theme parks in mainland China, as the North Asia-focused private equity group expands its portfolio to tap tourism growth in the world’s most populous nation.

The private-equity group, already an investor in Universal Studios Japan, paid 6.53 billion yuan (US$1.03 billion) for the five parks from Hong Kong-listed Haichang Ocean Park Holdings, and established HHAn Group to manage the assets. The parks are located in Chengdu, Qingdao, Wuhan and Tianjin, with the fifth under construction in Zhengzhou.

“[We are] committed to long-term investment in the industry and we firmly believe in its exciting outlook,” HHAn’s chief executive Gao Jie said in a statement to the South China Morning Post. “We will embrace an array of advanced technologies to accelerate digitalisation and empower operational efficiency, while focusing on the development and strategic cooperation of high-quality intellectual property assets, unleashing their strong value-add potential.”

The asset sale was part of the disposal programme by Haichang, based in the Liaoning provincial city of Dalian, to pare its debt. Shares of Haichang jumped 7.7 per cent in morning trading on the Hong Kong exchange to HK$2.93. The sale leaves Haichang with a maritime park – the largest of its kind in mainland China – built on the banks of Dishui Lake near the Yangshan deep water port Shanghai as its sole theme park.

China’s tourism industry had been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, as lockdown measures, forced quarantines and a mostly closed border stopped international visitors and curtailed domestic travelling. Tourism revenue plunged 61.1 per cent to 2.23 trillion yuan last year.