Grévin & Cie
Grévin & Cie (also: Grévin et Cie ) is a company founded in 1989 that emerged from Parc Astérix near Paris. Until 1999 the company was called Parc Asterix SA. Grévin et Cie specializes in buying regional theme parks and nature parks (e.g. dolphinariums, car safari parks). The third mainstay are the tourist attractions (wax figure cabinets, miniature parks).
The parent company Compagnie des Alpes (CdA) has held at least 95.87% of the shares since a takeover in August 2002. The company belongs entirely to the CdA and is therefore no longer listed on the stock exchange. In 2006, the group received almost 10 million visitors in its 21 parks and attractions, generating a turnover of 220 million euros.
history
The history of Grévin & Cie begins in the 1980s with the construction of the " Parc Asterix " near Paris, which is finally opened in 1989. The park is an independent company from which the Grévin & Cie later emerges.
In 1996 Parc Asterix bought the " Grand Aquarium Saint-Malo " (Brittany) and invested in an underwater simulator and other aquariums. As an operating company, Parc Asterix is no longer active in Parc Asterix alone, but also in other parks. In 1997, Parc Asterix went public.
In 1999, the young stock company Parc Asterix SA took over the traditional Parisian wax museum Musée Grévin and immediately renamed itself to today's name Grévin et Cie . At the same time, the company expanded further and took over the miniature park France miniature 25 km west of Paris. In addition, investments were made in indoor exhibitions and other attractions. The previously deficit park "France miniature" managed to break into the profit zone within two years and develop into the largest miniature park in Europe. In addition, the financially strong company Grévin et Cie took over the " Parc Bagatelle " in Brittany with 375,000 visitors a year.
In 2001 Grévin ventured abroad for the first time during expansion and took over Europe's largest dolphinarium, the " Dolfinarium Harderwijk " and the " Avonturenpark Hellendoorn " near the German border with around 350,000 visitors. In 2002, the company made new investments in Germany by purchasing the Fort Fun Adventure Land theme park in the Sauerland . This was followed in 2002 by the takeover of the " Aquarium Val du Loire " and the associated miniature park " Mini Chateux Val du Loire ", which offers all Loire castles on a scale of 1:32.
In mid-2002, the rapidly growing Grévin et Cie was swallowed up by the Compagnie des Alpes (CdA), the world's largest operator of ski stations . The Compagnie des Alpes took over 60 percent of the shares in Grévin & Cie. CdA in turn is a company of the "Caisse de Dépôts". The takeover has changed little in terms of the takeover course, and so in 2003 the " Aquaparc " in Le Bouveret on Lake Geneva ( Switzerland ) with 7 slides was taken over as the first adventure pool. After the takeover, a funnel slide was built. At the end of 2003, Grévin et Cie showed interest in the Spreepark in Berlin, which had been closed since 2001 . The plan was to put the park back into operation in 2004 as it was left behind, but only 15 hectares of the total area should be used for the park and 4 to 5 hectares for parking. In the three following years, more attractions were to be created. The takeover failed because the Berlin Senate did not agree to comply with the demand made by Grévin & Cie, according to which the city of Berlin should add the adjacent forest property with shoreline to the park at a reduced price, which did not belong to the original park area. It was argued that this considerably more valuable property would increase the value of the facility and that the takeover price offered was not fair. Tivoli was then preferred as an investor, although it has not yet invested any money in the site.
At the beginning of 2004, Grévin & Cie saved the deficit Panorama-Park Sauerland in Kirchhundem near Olpe from bankruptcy. Also in 2004 the company took over "Pleasurewood Hills", an amusement park in England. In April 2005, Grévin et Cie took over Planète Sauvage in Brittany , a large animal park with a dolphinarium and car safari. The park can look back on considerable breeding successes. The Compagnie des Alpes now owns 99 percent of the capital of Grévin et Cie and plans to take over the company completely. In 2005, Grévin & Cie arranged a second takeover with the takeover of "La Mer de Sable", an amusement park in a natural desert near Paris. This park is only 3 kilometers from Parc Asterix.
In 2006, with the opening of the biology and science adventure park Le Bioscope, which is divided into two construction phases, near Strasbourg near the German Kehl, a park that was planned and built independently was opened for the first time since Parc Asterix. At the beginning of May of the same year, Grévin & Cie announced the takeover of various parks belonging to the Star Parks Group ; only Moviepark and Walibi Lorraine were not taken over. The five theme and amusement parks taken over are located in France , Belgium and the Netherlands and collectively generate more than 3.8 million visitors annually. With the exception of Bellewaerde , the other four parks are given the name Walibi , for which the naming rights have also been taken over.
In 2007 the Panorama-Park Sauerland was withdrawn and the facility was sold to the local entrepreneur Siegfried Hamm. Grévin also withdrew its takeover bid for Marineland in Antibes , Europe's largest dolphinarium , after problems with some buildings in the park. According to statements by the company management, the group will not make any further takeovers in the near future and will take care of the integration of the 5 " StarParks " taken over . In the medium term, however, it is said that one will participate in the consolidation of the industry.
Corporate structure
Grévin & Cie is divided into several country-specific subsidiaries.
Grévin Germany GmbH
Grévin has been represented on the German market since 2002 with the takeover of Fort Fun Abenteuerland in Bestwig in the Sauerland . In the first two years the group invested little in the park, but since 2004 they have invested in several new shows and attractions. At the end of 2003, the takeover of the deficit Panorama-Park Sauerland in Kirchhundem , which is very close to Fort Fun, was announced. Investments were made in new rides, which the park acquired with its own financial means (including the sale of the former head office in Kirchhundem-Rinsecke) and the opening times were shortened (season from May to October) and the park returned to profitability in 2006. Before that, however, some jobs were cut, attractions reduced and the show program thinned out. Before the 2008 season, the Panorama Park was sold on. From now on it will be managed as a wildlife park by regional investors. Both parks together had an estimated 650,000 visitors annually. The headquarters of the Germany Group is in Bestwig.
On December 23, 2011, the company was taken over by One World Holding GmbH & Co. KG , also headquartered in Bestwig.
This contract was canceled a few weeks later because the buyer was a fraud.
Grévin France SA
Grévin France is the largest unit within the group. It is the second largest park operator in France after Disney. Nine parks / tourist attractions belong to it, first and foremost the Parc Asterix with 1.8 million visitors a year, to which a park-owned hotel is connected. In contrast to its large neighbor Disneyland, Parc Asterix is highly profitable. In the immediate vicinity of Parc Asterix there is another park in the group, Mer de Sable . The company also operates the Musée Grévin, the largest private tourist attraction in Paris with 600,000 visitors a year, as well as various aquariums, miniature parks and theme parks, including, for example, the Parc Bagatelle , the French Walibi offshoots Walibi Rhône-Alpes and Walibi Aquitaine or the Bioscope science park near the German border near Kehl.
Grévin Belgium BV
In Belgium it is the market leader with a total of almost 2.1 million visitors annually. The parks operated are called Bellewaerde Park and Walibi Belgium with the connected Aqualibi adventure pool. Walibi has a brand awareness of over 90 percent in Belgium, which is why many Belgians see Walibi as their own Disneyland, even if the comparison in terms of the size of the facilities is somewhat poor. Both parks were part of the former Six Flags European Division (later Star Parks ).
Grévin Nederlands NV
The Dolfinarium Harderwijk is operated here with 800,000 visitors, the Avonturenpark Hellendoorn with 500,000 visitors and the Walibi World theme park with 800,000 visitors per year. According to their own statements, they are the market leader in the Netherlands and the Netherlands the second most important pillar after France.
rest
In addition, the Aquaparc in Le Bouveret in Switzerland is operated with approx. 315,000 visitors and the English amusement park Pleasurewood Hills with 250,000 visitors per year.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Takeover of Fort Fun ( Memento of October 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Information on the planned takeover of the Spreepark ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Vendez Grévin & Compagnie ( Memento from January 31, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Report in derwesten.de on January 2, 2012
Coordinates: 49 ° 5 ′ 49.8 ″ N , 2 ° 34 ′ 15 ″ E