The South Korean multinational conglomerate Lotte group plans to offload its theme park project in North-eastern China for around $1.6 billion (10 billion yuan).
As per Bloomberg News, the Lotte Group, the largest operator of theme parks, hotels, and duty-free stores, coordinates with advisors to gauge the investor’s potential interest in their stalled theme park.
According to people who have information on the matter, the Lotte Group might keep the complex with them despite the ongoing deliberations and uncertainty of a transaction.
The theme park’s construction was stalled due to the pandemic, and there is no decision on its future as per the representative of the Lotte group.
The Lotte Group was planning to complete the “Lotte Town” project in Shenyang, a city 400 miles northeast of China, by 2019, but it hit a snag due to the geopolitical conflict between Seoul, Beijing, and Washington. The group had provided land to the Government of South Korea to use “Thaad,” a U.S. missile development defense shield, which China had protested strongly.
After safety and tax inspection, the Chinese government halted the theme park construction and ordered its suspension in December 2016.
The complex was expected to have shopping malls, office buildings, apartments, and a theme park. Seven of Lotte’s units planned to invest about $2.5 billion (3 trillion won).
Lotte Group has been discussing with Chinese officials since 2017 to resume work on the project. However, the sentiments in China were Anti-Korean, which forced Lotte Group to back out from the world’s second-largest economy. The group then sold off many assets in China.
