Spanish operator Parques Reunidos has acquired the world’s largest indoor waterpark, Germany’s Tropical Islands, from Malaysian firm Tanjong for €226m (US$257.3m, £203.3m).
The move marks the largest single-park acquisition in Parques Reunidos’ history and is a huge addition to its portfolio.
Tropical Islands is a combination of a water park and other leisure offerings, with various lodging facilities that stay open year-round due to its indoor setting. It's located approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Berlin, close to the cities of Dresden and Leipzig, as well as the Polish and the Czech borders.
"Germany is a strategic market for Parques Reunidos. As well as representing a truly unique opportunity in itself, Tropical Islands also reinforces our market positioning in the country, where together with Movie Park and Belantis we will reach 3 million visitors," said Richard Golding, chair of Parques Reunidos.
"The indoor setting of the park will allow us to extend the season of our European business and provides an attractive source of resilience against external conditions.
"We expect to create further value for our shareholders by implementing Parques Reunidos best practices to the operations of Tropical Islands and through identified expansion projects on the available land that this acquisition includes."
Tropical Islands welcomes around 1.3 million visitors annually and generates revenues of around €71m (US$80.5m, £64m) per year.
