Walibi group

Walibi
legal form	Société anonyme (SA)
founding	1975
Seat	Wavre , Belgium
management	Dominique Marcel (CEO)
Branch	Amusement parks
Website	www.walibi.com

The Walibi Group is an amusement park chain from Grévin & Cie , which includes parks in Belgium , France and the Netherlands .

history

The first park of today's Walibi Group was an amusement park in the triangle Wavre , Limal and Bierges, which Eddy Meeùs founded in 1975 . The name of the park resulted from its location in this triangle and was simply composed of the first two letters of each place. The mascot of the Walibi parks was an orange kangaroo of the same name from the opening . From the end of the 1980s onwards, the actual park group was brought into being through the acquisition of parks. First, the French parks Walibi Rhône-Alpes ( Les Avenières , 1989), Walibi Schtroumpf ( Metz , 1990) and Walibi Aquitaine ( Roquefort , 1992) were acquired, before a Dutch park, the Flevohof ( Biddinghuizen ) , was acquired in 1994 and redesigned in Walibi Flevo has been. Furthermore, the Belgian Bellewaerde Park ( Ieper ) was taken over in 1990 , but continued under the old name.

In addition to the classic amusement parks, Mini Europe also belonged to the group from 1989 and the covered water park Océade from 1992 until 1998.

As part of the entry into the European business of the US American group Premier Parks (later Six Flags ), the Walibi Parks were also sold in 1998. Under the new owner, the group continued to operate with additional parks as the “Six Flags European Division” and “Wavre” and “Flevo” were converted to the Six Flags brand. During this time, Schtroumpf was also renamed Walibi Lorraine due to the loss of his Schlumpf licenses.

In 2004 Six Flags got out of the European market and sold the parks to the British financial investor Palamon Capital Partners , who continued the group under the name StarParks and converted Six Flags Parks back into Walibi parks.

In 2006, Palamon sold the above-mentioned parks, apart from “Lorraine”, to the French chain Grévin & Cie , which continued the name. Walibi Lorraine was acquired by regional investors who renamed it Walygator Parc for the 2007 season .

Amusement parks

Surname	place	country	opening	Acquired	Previous owner	Sold	Buyers
Bellewaerde Park	Ypres	Belgium	1954	1990	Albert Florizoone	1998	Six Flags European Division
Mini Europe	Brussels	Belgium	1989	1989	First owner	1998	Thierry Meeùs
Océade	Brussels	Belgium	1988	1992	SPA Heysel SA	1998	Thierry Meeùs
Walibi Belgium	Wavre	Belgium	1975	1989	Eddy Meeùs	1998	Six Flags European Division
Walibi Holland	Biddinghuizen	Netherlands	1971	1994	Herman Eshuis	1998	Six Flags European Division
Walibi Lorraine	Maizières-lès-Metz	France	1989	1990	Sorepark	1998	Six Flags European Division
Walibi Rhône-Alpes	Les Avenières	France	1979	1989	Eddy Meeùs	1998	Six Flags European Division
Walibi Sud-Ouest	Roquefort	France	1992	1992	First owner	1998	Six Flags European Division

Web links

• Official website of the Walibi Group

Coordinates: 50 ° 42 ′ 6.5 ″  N , 4 ° 35 ′ 38.5 ″  E