[Tom Morrow]

Hong Kong, Disney reach an agreement

HK Reaches Pact With Disney On Disneyland Expansion Wall Street Journal (subscription) The Hong Kong government has reached a deal with Walt Disney Co. (DIS) to expand the city's Disneyland theme park, and will present the plan to lawmakers Tuesday, people familiar with the situation said Thursday. Disney is willing to fully fund the expansion, but talks have been complicated by the government's desire to keep its controlling stake in the theme park. As part of the deal, Disney will finance the expansion project, while the government will convert earlier loans to the joint venture into equity in order to keep a controlling stake, a person familiar with the situation said earlier. Another person familiar with the situation said Thursday the government will send the expansion plans to the city's legislature in a special panel meeting Tuesday. Because the plans involve government financing, the Legislative Council will need to give final approval to the Disney deal. The person said the legislature's Finance Committee will discuss the arrangements July 10. The Hong Kong Economic Times reported Thursday that Disney would invest HK$7 billion on the expansion, reducing the government's stake to not less than 51%. Citing unnamed sources, the report said the government hopes the expansion work will begin before the end of this year. Chester Yung and Jeffrey Ng, Dow Jones Newswires complete article

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