London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH), the Kuwaiti-owned developer, has announced an exclusive agreement with a London-based private-banking firm to raise $3.6 billion to finance a Paramount-branded theme park in southern England.
Scheduled to open in 2020, the London Paramount Entertainment Resort is scheduled to begin construction in autumn 2016 and will comprise an ‘Adventure Isle’, a ‘Myths and Legend Castle’ and a ‘fantasy port’, according to plans released by LRCH.
The Kleinwort Benson Bank has been appointed as the sole financial adviser to LRCH and will oversee debt and equity fundraising to finance the ambitious project, which will be built on an 872-acre brownfield site on Kent’s Swanscombe peninsula.
New illustrations and plans to remodel the A2 – a major road in southern England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent – have been released by LRCH in the wake of a fourth stage of public consultations, local media in the UK reported. The plans are subject to approval by the Secretary of State.
The Kuwaiti European Holdings Group (KEH) bought LRCH in 2013 and has been financing the project ever since.
The project is expected to attract approximately 15 million people annually once open for business. Its multiple zones will include Adventure Isle, Land of Legends, Cartoon Circus and Starfleet Command, amongst many others. In total, it is expected to have 50 rides and attractions, including a 2,000-seat theatre that will feature regular shows and 11,000sqm of exhibition space that will showcase British inventions and brands.
There will also be 15,000sqm of retail space and a plaza area that will feature live entertainment, a cinema and comedy venue and the largest indoor water park in Europe. Around 5,000 hotel rooms are also planned, and a ‘creative business space for British companies’.
The developer also plans to utilise public transport, including enhancing the Fastrack bus network and creating a high-frequency train service from Ebbsfleet International Station to the resort. It also plans to make use of a river-bus service on the Thames.