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Portaventura Being Sold Back to Universal? Rumour!

TPoseOnTantrum

Giga Poster
Hearing a sudden flurry of word that Universal may have just finalized a deal to do exactly this, the least of which would include a new director, keep an eye out for a possible announcement.
 

JFranks

Mega Poster
Hearing a sudden flurry of word that Universal may have just finalized a deal to do exactly this, the least of which would include a new director, keep an eye out for a possible announcement.
Interesting info! I really hope this is true and they begin to rebrand and fix the park ASAP! not saying it's bad, I actually think it´s one of the best in the area, but it needs some changes to bring it to universal park's levels. :)
 

JFranks

Mega Poster
That looks pretty legit. Unless some random dude really wanted to troll us and brought thousand-dollar cameras to the park LOL. I really want to believe it's true and going to happen in the very near future, but at the same time reserve my excitement and expectations until we know more accurate info. Idk if u have noticed the rebrandings of the merch etiquettes with the Universal logo. It has the same dimensions as the PortAventura one and it´s the new logo.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
Is this the place that had a donkey in a hat on stage? Was that apparently during the old Universal days?
 

wrc555

Roller Poster
Given PortAventura's current owners, I doubt there would be much resistance if the right offer came along;

From a practical perspective however, with Universal presumably dropping in the region of €1bn on epic universe, it could be a tough sell to their shareholders to spend hundreds of millions more on acquiring another park outside of their current core markets .....a park which would need even more spent on it upon purchase to rebrand and bring up to their standards. Coming off the back of the pandemic and the biggest park investment in their history in the USA, it would be a somewhat surprising move from a financial perspective
- perhaps if anything, we may see a stake being taken by universal rather than an outright purchase.

I really hope this is true as it would be great news for the park, but wonder if its wishful thinking more than fact - being owned by investment co, if there is any hint they want to cash in their chips soon, it will likely mean minimal investment in upkeep and rides in future (following the uncharted opening) so would be a good news story if it happened.
 

TheTalbotHound

Roller Poster
If Universal are looking to get back into Europe, then PortAventura is the perfect place to do it. It is relatively easy to access, near a popular tourist destination, has room to expand, they have some experience running it already, and the owners aren't against selling. Given the rapid pace of expansion at Universal parks recently, it would not be surprising to see them want to get back into the European market again. It would certainly help them grow the parks division. Hopefully they will come to an agreement to buy it, maybe then Disneyland Paris would finally have a real competitor.
 
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