Comcast to Buy Rest of Universal Studios Japan for $2.3 Billion
ByComcast’s NBCUniversal agreed to acquire the remaining 49 percent in Universal Studios Japan theme park it doesn’t own for $2.3 billion.
NBC bought the remaining stake from Goldman Sachs, former Universal Studios Japan Chief Executive Officer Glenn Gumpel, private-equity firm MBK Partners and U.S. hedge fund Owl Creek Asset Management. The deal values the theme park at $7.4 billion, including the assumption of net debt, according to a statement Tuesday.
In 2015, NBCUniversal paid $1.5 billion for a 51 percent stake in USJ Co., the operating company of the Universal Studios Japan theme park in Osaka.
Universal Studios Japan opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction in 2014 and plans to open a Minion-themed park later this year.
Comcast has been expanding its theme park business in Asia. It’s also building a theme park destination in Beijing and licenses a theme park in Singapore.
The transaction is expect to close in April.