Disney to Acquire Rest of Paris Theme Park

Walt Disney Co. announced Friday plans to acquire the minority portion of its Euro Disney operation that it doesn’t already own. The Burbank entertainment giant said it will acquire a 90 percent interest in a company called Kingdom Holding Co., which owns 9 percent of Euro Disney shares. That will increase Disney’s stake in Euro Disney to 85.7 from 76.7 now, the company said. Disney also announced its intention to make a cash offer for all remaining shares of Euro Disney at a price of 2 Euros a share, a 67 percent premium to the closing price on Thursday. Finally, after the acquisition, Disney plans to recapitalize Euro Disney with up to 1.5 billion Euros (nearly $1.6 billion). Euro Disney’s main asset is the theme park near Paris, which has suffered because of terrorist attacks in France. The park “has been significantly and negatively impacted by the November 2015 events in Paris and the challenging business conditions that continued through 2016 in France and throughout Europe,” the announcement stated. Shares of Disney closed Friday down 23 cents, or a fraction of a percent, to $109.26 on the New York Stock Exchange.