Merlin Entertainments is to open its first Legoland park in Japan in 2017 and has revealed a target of up to 20 parks worldwide.
The theme park operator’s eighth park will be based in Nagoya, two hours from Tokyo and one hour from Osaka, and will cost £185 million in total.
Merlin currently has six Legoland parks in five countries and has a seventh opening in Dubai in 2016.
Chief executive Nick Varney said: “The park will make a significant contribution to the growth of the Merlin group from opening in the second quarter of 2017, as well as supporting our geographic diversification.
“Long term, we continue to believe that there is significant opportunity for the Legoland brand, with the potential for up to 20 parks across the world, and we remain committed to our target of opening a new park every two to three years.”
The new park will be opened under the company’s ‘operated and leased’ model, which means the park infrastructure will be funded by a third party, Kirkbi, which owns the Lego brand.
Merlin will directly invest £53 million into the project over the next three years from its cash reserves.
It will lease the balance of the assets from Kirkbi Invest, a subsidiary of Kirkbi, a private investment and holding company with a 75% ownership share in the Lego Group and a 29.9% shareholding in Merlin.
The park will be of a similar scale to the parks opened in Malaysia and Florida and is expected to employ up to 1,000 staff. It has a potential catchment area of more than 20 million people and will be located close to a port, with good rail and road links. There are options available for further park expansion and the development of on-site, themed accommodation in the future.
The EBITDA margin is expected to be in the range of 15% to 20%, which is lower than existing parks due to the rental charge.
The Japanese theme park market is the largest in Asia, with an estimated value of £4 billion. There is already a Legoland Discovery Centre attraction in Tokyo.