The Italian Investindustrial buys the remaining 50% of PortAventura, owned by Criteria Caixa Holding

Salou (ACN).- Investindustrial has agreed with Criteria Caixa Holding on the purchase of the remaining 50% of PortAventura capital, which it joined in December 2009. The Italian group, run by the Bonomi family, will pay Criteria Caixa Holding €105 million and will completely control the Catalan amusement park, located on the Costa Daurada, between Tarragona and Salou. In fact, it will own the theme park, as well as the adjacent water park, hotels and convention centre. It will also oversee the resort’s management. From this perspective, on Monday Investindustrial announced an additional investment of €80 million in order to foster the park’s international projection. PortAventura is the only profitable theme park in Spain and one of only a few in Europe. In addition, it is located next to the land where the €6 billion mega-resort Barcelona World will be built, which could be opening its doors as early as 2016. Investindustrial has experience in amusement parks, as it owns and manages Gardaland, Italy’s largest theme park, located on Lake Garda, near Verona. In addition, the Italian group has a consolidated trajectory of investing large amounts of capital in businesses from a wide range of sectors to ensure growth during a medium- to long-term ownership. For instance, it has invested in the motorbike company Ducati, the engineering enterprise Applus, and the paramedic company TSC – which provides ambulances to the Catalan Medical Emergencies Public Service.

The operation includes the theme park PortAventura, the water park Caribe Aquatic Park, the four hotels next to the resort (Port Aventura, Caribe Resort, Gold River and El Paso) and the convention centre. However, Criteria Caixa Holding will continue to own 100% of the assets such as the land surrounding PortAventura, where the mega-resort Barcelona World will be built. Furthermore, Criteria Caixa Holding will continue to own the nearby golf courses and the Beach Club, a stylish venue with swimming pools by the sea to host private events. In fact, both Barcelona World and PorAventura are located next to the sea, which is one of its tourist magnets.

Criteria Caixa Holding is the industrial holding owned by the Catalan savings bank La Caixa, which lead Spain’s banking sector restructuring process. In fact, La Caixa has become the main pillar of Spain’s banking sector, as it owns the country’s largest bank, CaixaBank, based in Barcelona. Both CaixaBank and La Caixa have passed all the stress tests, revealing large solvency rates.

Sources from Investindustrial have praised Criteria Caixa Holding’s role as partner. In addition, they have announced an 80-million investment plan “to foster to a greater extent PortAventura’s growth at international level”. In fact, 40% of the park’s clients are foreign tourists. “This operation shows that, despite a very unstable and volatile economic environment, there is the investment capacity for attractive projects such as PortAventura”, they stated.

According to Criteria Caixa Holding, the entrance of an industrial investor should enable the fostering of the park’s growth, through the funding of new attractions and hotels. Criteria Caixa Holding recognised Investindustrial as a “strong partner”, which should ensure PortAventura’s growth to become the clear “leader” in Spain. “With this operation, the continuity and growth of PortAventura’s project are guaranteed, which would benefit the park’s clients, employees and the area” where the park is located, stated sources from Criteria Caixa Holding.