KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — After acquiring Kidzania Singapore for just S$110,000 or around RM380,000, Singapore-based theme park operator Sim Leisure Group Ltd (SLG) said state sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd was never involved in the sale of the theme park.
In a statement, its founder and executive chairman Datuk Sim Choo Kheng said Kidzania Singapore was a failed asset that permanently closed in mid-2020 and went into receivership under a Singapore liquidator.
“SLG took up a bid from the liquidator for the non-movable assets of Kidzania Singapore towards the end of 2020, which was at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and has been negotiating the lease for the facility for the last two years with Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC),” said Sim.
He said SLG — which also operates Kidzania Kuala Lumpur since its reopening in 2021 — took the risk in purchasing the theme park where they weren’t able to physically check the non-movable asset during lockdown.
Apart from that, Sim said the condition of the theme park assets and the cost of renovating was unknown at the time and that it negotiated with the licensor Kidzania Mexico to secure a licence agreement.
“In taking over failed assets like Kidzania Singapore where we have been criticised for the purchase price. The general public do not understand that a failed theme park can end up as scrap metal most of the time, such as Movie Animation Park Studio in Ipoh.
“Unlike other failed assets such as hotels, resorts etc. which can be repurposed into residential apartments or other commercial use, failed theme park projects have very limited use,” he said.
Sim said most investors in the Southeast Asia region do not have the experience and expertise to operate a theme park, and criticised their poorly thought-out ventures,
“It’s a bit like a person who has done first-aid training trying to be a heart surgeon. They use theme parks to value-add their development to sell real estate or to cross-promote their other businesses, or governments with good intentions to catalyse tourism.
“Most of them cross-subsidising the attraction business. The subsidisation of these businesses is not sustainable, what happens once all the condos are sold or the main business is no longer as lucrative as it once was?” he asked.
“They are different from us, at Sim Leisure Group we live, eat and breathe theme parks, it’s all we do. Our businesses must stand on their own and be profitable from day one,” Sim said.
Sim also reminded investors that they should think carefully before putting their money into theme parks as it is not just about buying equipment, engaging intellectual property owners or foreign experties.
On June 12, Channel News Asia reported that the indoor children’s theme park will make its comeback in Singapore as early as the first quarter of 2024 after it was permanently closed three years ago.
Last week, The Vibes reported citing an unnamed source said that Khazanah and Boustead Holdings Bhd had allegedly invested about S$48 million or RM165.52 million into Kidzania Singapore in 2016, but allegedly sold its stake to SLG for just S$110,000 or RM379,398.
This came after the Finance Ministry had in Dewan Rakyat denied the sale of a film and television production complex land of 49 acres in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Baru.
Deputy Finance Minister Steven Sim said this was not true as the asset still remained in the possession of state investment firm Khazanah Nasional Bhd through a special-purpose vehicle, Tanjung Bidara Ventures Sdn Bhd.
