Disney Proposes New Theme Park in Shanghai

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Walt Disney Co. and the Shanghai municipal government have signed a project proposal that lays out the broad legal and financial framework for the U.S. entertainment giant to build its first mainland theme park, slated to open as early as 2014 at a cost of $3.59 billion.

Under the proposal signed this week, Burbank-based Disney would take a 43 percent equity stake in Shanghai Disneyland while a joint-venture holding company owned by the local government would own 57 percent , according to a person familiar with the terms. The first phase, about 1.5 square kilometers, would include a theme park, plus a hotel and shopping development, at a cost of up to 24.48 billion yuan, or $3.59 billion, built over six years. A mostly rural site near Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport has been designated for the project.

However, before the project can go forward it must receive high-level approval from the central government in Beijing, an opaque process that is expected to take up to a year, according to people involved in the plans. It is also possible that the agreement signed Thursday could be altered as it winds its way through different layers of China’s bureaucracy.




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