Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: United States-based theme park owner and operator Six Flags Entertainment Corp — known for having some of the wildest and fastest roller coaster rides in the world today — plans to enter the Malaysian market and is seeking a partner to establish the brand here, said government matchmaker Malaysia Property Incorporated (MPI).

MPI, whose main function is to bring in foreign investment into Malaysia’s real estate, had in its latest Property Quotient Issue 3, 2015, highlighted Six Flags’ interest in having a presence in Malaysia.

Six Flags, said to be the world’s largest regional theme park company with a revenue of US$1.2 billion (RM4.39 billion), offers world-class coasters, family rides, animal encounters and water parks.

The business is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

“We are matchmaking them,” MPI general manager Veena Loh said when contacted by The Edge Financial Daily. She added that MPI was approached by a Six Flags representative less than a month ago.

According to Loh, Six Flags explored the possibility of investing here several years ago, but the venture did not materialise.

“They are now looking at a franchise format and for this partner to run [the] Six Flags [franchise here] for them,” she added.

MPI, a Malaysian government initiative under the purview of the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department, serves as a bridge between foreign investors and real estate investment opportunities in Malaysia. It is calling out to any developer or entrepreneur who may be interested in this Six Flags’ venture.

The article pointed out four potential states most suitable for a Six Flags’ amusement park — Penang, Johor (Iskandar Malaysia), Melaka and Selangor (Sepang).

All these states have high local and foreign tourist arrivals. Johor, for example, is expected to have the highest concentration of theme parks and amusement parks.

Malaysia is quickly becoming a popular theme park and amusement park destination in the region — with the potential of emerging as the theme park capital of Southeast Asia, a position comparable to that of Orlando in Florida, the US.

Last November, The Edge weekly said it had managed to identify that Malaysia will have at least 50 theme parks by 2020.

The highest concentration of theme parks will be in Johor with 15, followed by Selangor with 10.

Established theme park operators have started to bring in foreign licensed intellectual properties (IPs) in recent years to be able to compete better.

Sunway Bhd (fundamental: 1.5; valuation: 1.8), for example, has tied up with US cable television network Nickelodeon to introduce the Nickelodeon Lost Lagoon, while the Genting group will, in 2016, have its Resort World Genting 20th Century Fox World, a movie-inspired outdoor theme park.

Australia-based Sanderson Group International, together with Perak Corp Bhd (fundamental: 1.9; valuation: 2), have also tied up with DreamWorks for the development of an animation theme park in Ipoh, which is set to open its doors to the public by the end of this year.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s Themed Attractions and Resorts Sdn Bhd (TAR) got the ball rolling when it brought in Merlin Entertainments Group’s Legoland Resort, which has both a theme park and a water park in Johor.

TAR has also established the first Sanrio Hello Kitty Town outside Japan in Nusajaya, together with the Little Big Club. Next on TAR’s list is the opening of the Ocean Splash Water Park and Ocean Quest Marine Park in Desaru, Johor.

Six Flags has 18 parks in the US, Mexico and Canada. The first Six Flags outside the US is expected to open its doors in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in 2017. Its founder, Angus Wynne, opened the first Six Flags in Texas in 1961.


The Edge Research’s fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations. Go to www.theedgemarkets.com for more details on a company’s financial dashboard.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 13, 2015.

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