SIM Leisure Group on Friday announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with China-based Guangzhou Daxin Water Park Equipment, under which the company will monetise its name in the theme-park industry through a partnership with Guangzhou Daxin.
The agreement will grant Guangzhou Daxin the right to use “Sim Leisure” as the name to secure theme-park design and building contracts within China and the Asean region, in return for a 5 per cent royalty payment to the company’s 60-per-cent owned subsidiary, Sim Leisure Creative. The remaining 40-per-cent shareholding interests in Sim Leisure Creative are held by Wesley James Rae , the former non-executive non-independent director of Sim Leisure; and Josie Booth , who was a senior manager with the company prior to its listing since 2013.
Guangzhou Daxin is one of the biggest waterpark designers, equipment suppliers and contractors in China, with a turnover of US$50 million at its peak in 2016, Sim Leisure said. "The potential in China is considerable, based on statistics in 2017 that indicated that over half a billion Chinese visited an amusement park. Amusement park spending in China was forecast to surpass US$6 billion by 2019, making China the world's fastest-growing market. Aresearch report on Chinese theme parks stated that 64 new parks were expected to be established between 2015 and 2020, with a total investment of about US$24 billion," it added.