Wonderla Holidays is developing two more theme parks, in Hyderabad and Chennai, with an investment of about Rs 500 crore, a top company executive said.
“We will spend about Rs 450-500 crore to develop two theme parks, one each in Hyderabad and Chennai. We are planning to raise Rs 200-250 crore through equity and the rest through internal accrual and debt.
There is huge opportunity in the amusement park segment in the country and we are planning to expand in this segment,” Wonderla Holidays Managing Director Arun K Chittilappilly said.
The company may raise this Rs 200-250 crore either through the private equity (PE) or IPO, he said. The company has completed the land acquisition in Hyderabad, where the theme park will take two years to become operational, Chittilappilly said.
“However, in Chennai we are at the land acquisition stage and may take around three and half years for becoming operational.” These theme parks will be developed in two phases. In the first, they will have amusement and water parks and in phase two four-star premium resorts will be built, he said.
Currently, Wonderla operates two amusement parks, in Kochi and Bangalore, spread over 85 acres and employing about 2,000 people. The existing parks are witnessing 8-9 per cent growth in visitors annually. “Looking at this trend we are expecting 25 per cent growth in revenue in FY13.
The company had posted Rs 115 crore revenue in FY12,” the Managing Director said. Wonderla has a four-star resort in its Bangalore park with 85 rooms and is are planning to develop a resort in the Kochi park as well in 2-3 years, he said. After completing the new projects, Wonderla may enter Goa, Pune and Kolkata, he said, adding usually the company develops two parks at one time and then plan its next move.
About 30 per cent of rides in Wonderla are imported from Italy and Germany, about 40 per cent developed in-house and the rest are from domestic manufactures. The amusement park operator is promoted by the Kerala-based Rs 1,500 crore V-Guard Group, which is into making electric and electronic consumer products.