It seems the rumours were true! A new operator may in fact be coming to PortAventura World!
As reported by CincoDías, the shareholders and current owners of PortAventura World, InvestIndustrial and KKR, are looking to sell the resort for €1 billion.
InvestIndustrial has been the park’s main operator now for almost 15 years, this after buying half of then full-owner Criteria’s holdings in 2009. In 2012, Criteria sold their remaining stake in the resort, and KKR joined InvestIndustrial with 49.9% ownership in 2013. For the last decade, this has remained the case.
Major investments made by InvestIndustrial and KKR include a B&M hyper coaster (Shambhala, 2012), a second gate theme park (Ferrari Land, 2017), and two impressive dark rides (Street Mission in 2019 and Uncharted in 2023).
Although still at an early stage, JP Morgan Chase will step in as one of the world’s largest financial institutions to manage the transaction.
While just who the new buyer will be remains a mystery, long-time PortAventura fans have been hoping to welcome back the resort’s previous operator from the early 2000’s. These rumblings about a Universal Studios comeback may not come as a surprise, as we had previously discussed early rumors about their return almost a year ago on our blog.
Whatever the case, we’ll keep you updated on all the latest news about this exciting topic!