(MENAFN) Saudi billionaire Prince Al Waleed bin Talal agreed to join a USD532 million bailout of Euro Disney, in which he has 10 percent stake in, Arabian Business reported.
The French theme park's biggest shareholder, US-based Walt Disney Company rescued the struggling theme park by announcing that it will swap USD761 million of Euro Disney's debt for equity, which then Euro Disney will pay back in the form of payments by 2024.
Disneyland Paris, which net loss reached USD964 million in its first year of operation in 1992 and only turned a profit in eight of the past 22 years, registered a loss of USD99 million last year despite recording 14.9 million visitors.
"We will fully subscribe to the rights issue because we support France and we support Disney. Operationally there is no problem at all. I went to the hotels. I skinned the park, I skinned the hotels, and I skinned everything. Meticulous. It is a top-notch tourist destination," The Prince was quoted saying after he visited the park last week.
Euro Disney shareholders include The Walt Disney Company, which has a 40 percent stake, 10 percent owned by Prince Al Waleed, 5 percent owned by fund manager Invesco, while the rest is on the Paris Euronext exchange.
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