Lego selling Legoland ??????

[xwingyoda]

Guys,

I'm a little confused here: I thought that the sale of the Legoland park was a sure thing.

However, The LEGO Group denies persistent rumours that it has sold LEGOLAND Parks or that it is currently in the final stages of negotiating a deal with a single investor.

you can check it here:

http://www.lego.com/eng/info/default.asp?p...=&archive=false

So what to think about that ??????

[Mister Phes]

I never thought they would be selling. I'm guessing someone misread their last financial report.

[chewie]

i dont really know what to say i mean i definatly dont want TLC to sell there parks but if they do there is nothing we can do i guess....hey maby we could create a petition like the one for the white clone troopers hehe

[Mister Phes]

How did that petition turn out?

And from that we can ascertain whether a petition would help save Legolands...

[The Middleman]

Maybe LEGO can't find an investor to buy them! :-D

[Hobbes]

"We still expect a sale to take place in the course of the summer."

That from TLC directly - what can one think?

[chewie]

this is exactly what the link says that xwingyoda posted

LEGO Group denies LEGOLAND sale rumour

The LEGO Group denies persistent rumours that it has sold LEGOLAND Parks or that it is currently in the final stages of negotiating a deal with a single investor.

Says CFO Jesper Ovesen:

[Mister Phes]

Maybe LEGO can't find an investor to buy them! :-D

Or maybe LEGO has completely no idea what they're doing. They've given me that impression many times in recent years.

[Darth_Ewok]

Hmmm...

I actually remember posting the topic about them selling it, weird

they probably should sell it and just concentrate on better sets

[snefroe]

come on guys, this is typical language for companies who are negociating with others to buy or sell assets...

news about this is expected in summer, that's all...

remember, this is extremely sensitive stuff, selling Billund is like the Vatican selling st-peters, or France selling the Louvre...

of course they're better of selling legoland. the costs to operate these parks are huge and tlc simply doesn't have the money to finance it all...

[Mister Phes]

Obviously we're just joking around... Well I was anyway.

I don't think the comparisson between LEGO selling Bilund to Vatican selling st-peters or France selling the Louvre is very accurate though. George Lucas selling ILM would be far more believable!

[snefroe]

Obviously we're just joking around... Well I was anyway.

I don't think the comparisson between LEGO selling Bilund to Vatican selling st-peters or France selling the Louvre is very accurate though. George Lucas selling ILM would be far more believable!

i didn't use the comparison in terms of believability, but in terms of sensitivity... Billund is the place where it all started... from an emotional point of view, selling billund is the most painfull decision tlc has ever got to make, billund is the very essence of this company... and don't forget, many people in billund, in fact the entire area, are strongly connected with tlc, some of them have been working there for many years... it's not a coincidence that tlc's board has been talking about selling the place for quite some time now... especially the family will have difficulty with taking this decision...

[Mister Phes]

That makes far more sense put like that.

But why would they sell Billund over any of the other LEGO Lands? Is Billund performing exceptionally poor compared to the others?

[snefroe]

1) the themeparks is a different economic activity. you need different specialists and employees to operate the parks compared to TLC as a toy producer. that's all very expensive

2) they have to deal with all sorts of new European regulation, like safety regulations for the attractions, health inspections,... again, very different compared to their core business... and very expensive

3) in the world of theme parks, TLC is a very small player. they probably won't be able to defend their market share unless they get a partner on board, a partner who's very well established in the market, a company that is fully dedicated to this particular part of activity, a partner who knows the market inside out...

4) the fact that the parks today are profitable is not really relevant. the question is: how much would it cost to increase profits in the future, or at least keep current profits? especially compared to tlc's overall financial situation. there's your problem... tlc does not want to spend more money on their themeparks, because they need the money for their core business and they won't be able to defend the parks the way they should, anyway, because it's not really their market...

[Mister Phes]

Thanks for that info Snefroe1!

Wouldn't other parts of the world also be introducing new expensive regulations? Might the other LEGO Lands go the way of Billund in the future?

[snefroe]

obviously, all themeparks in europe have to follow the same regulations and it's highly unlikely that US regulations differ very much. after all, we're talking about the health and safety of the general public. i think every themepark in the west is extremely sensitive about those.

however, in relative terms, it's more expensive for tlc, because her budget is not as high as Disney's for instance.

[Mister Phes]

Now why are we referring to a commercial entity as a "she", that seems a bit strange from my perspective. But anyway...

Isn't there is LEGO Land Windsor and Deutschland, which are also in Europe, obviously. What's happening with them?

[snefroe]

1) all i know is that the dutch word for company is "female", so i normally try to refer to tlc as "she". i do know what it is in English...

A ship is also "she". in fact, the german captain of the Bismarck (Lansdorf was his name i think) refused to refer the his ship as a "she". a ship like that couldn't possibly be a "she"... :P curious what a pirate has to say about that...

2) windsor, california, billund and munich are part of the same group of tlc;

[Mister Phes]

Ah yes, I've observed its traditional to refer to countries and vehicles as "she"... But in the 21st Century? But clever drawing from "she" from the Dutch word for company.

Now. The bit I'm confused about is Billund seems to be the only one thats effected by these new European regulations, but as Windsor and Munich are also are in Europe aren't they affected in the same way Billund is?

[Hobbes]

Now.  The bit I'm confused about is Billund seems to be the only one thats effected by these new European regulations [...]

The bit I'm confused about is where you got that from? The way I read it TLC thinks about selling all four parks. I didn't see the name Billund mentioned explicitly anywhere. LEGO started in Billund and that's why it is a very delicate matter (I liked the comparisons with the Vatican and Paris). And I think those EU-regulations (whatever they are) are the least reason they're thinking of selling (we Europeans know that Brussels likes to regulate anything)...

[Mister Phes]

The bit I'm confused about is where you got that from? The way I read it TLC thinks about selling all four parks.

Because I read it late at night when I was tired and interperated it incorrectly. You interperated it the right way Mr Hobbes.

[snefroe]

they're all part of one subsection of the Lego Group. it means a potential partner has to buy a share of the subsection's economic value, not just a share of billund theme park. it's all or nothing... so, if the subsection is profitable, price is high, if they're losing money, price is low... it's obviously more difficult than that, but that's the essence...

about the regulations. I think they're created by the international association for themeparks; they write in coordination with EU, US,... safety regulations and stuff. that's because some themeparks move from time to time to different countries, like a circus for instance. also, it would be insane for a producer of attractions to build one attraction for Japan, another for europe a third for the us, all according to their own national legislation... other regulation, like health and food inspection, might be different in the us and europe, but in all, i don't think they're very different and they obviously apply to all entities involved in the production and distribution of food, not just billund legoland,...

btw, pirate, for people in holland, all words in dutch are "male". even a cow is a "he"... we, dutch speaking belgians, are smarter. we use male, female and neutral to refer to subjects... so a cow really is a female to us... :P

[Mister Phes]

they're all part of one subsection of the Lego Group. it means a potential partner has to buy a share of the subsection's economic value, not just a share of billund theme park. it's all or nothing...

Yeah, that was my misinterpretation. I'm clear on the matter now.

btw, pirate, for people in holland, all words in dutch are "male". even a cow is a "he"... we, dutch speaking belgians, are smarter. we use male, female and neutral to refer to subjects... so a cow really is a female to us... :P

Interesting people! I tend not to give genders to non-gender specific entities myself.

[snefroe]

just heard on the radio that tlc is very close to selling the four parks for 540 million euro; the innitial price was 400 million. it seems there are still british and american groups involved in the deal...

[Mister Phes]

Thanx for the update? You have any idea what they're going to do with the profits? Will LEGO still recieve royalties/a percent of the takings from the new owner(s) for using their LEGO's likeness, logos, etc?