Tustin’s ProFun Management Acquires German Space Center for $70 Million
By SANDI CAIN
The Walt Disney Co. isn’t the only Southern California company with a theme park in Europe.
Tustin-based ProFun Management Group Inc. recently struck a deal to buy the space-themed indoor center at Germany’s Space Park Bremen.
The pact, valued at about $70 million, marks Pro-Fun’s first foray into full ownership of an amusement and entertainment center.
ProFun Europe GMBH, the company’s German-based European unit, already held the management contract for the center.
When it’s fully open in the fall, the indoor space center is set to include eight attractions, a 450-seat bistro and a retail area. Attendance is expected to be about 1.5 million visitors annually.
Attractions include a 4-D action theater, a simulator ride, an IMAX theater, a Space Shot vertical ride and a new extrasensory roller coaster.
Jim Benedick, a partner with ProFun, said the group has licensed “Star Trek” from Paramount Parks and “Star Gate” from MGM Pictures and will open two attractions at the park in the fall.
The indoor theme park is one component of Space Park Bremen, a 1 million-square-foot complex that sits on a 65-acre former shipyard site.
With retail elements similar to the Irvine Spectrum, the Space Park includes more than 100 retail outlets, 40 food and beverage outlets, a 10-screen multiplex theater and a 162-room hotel.
The center’s landmark feature is a 180-foot replica of an Ariane 4 launch rocket.
The $500 million Space Park is expected to draw as many as 13 million visitors each year when complete. Disneyland Paris, 40% owned by Burbank-based Walt Disney Co., drew 10.3 million visitors in 2002.
The founders of Tustin-based Management Resources, a leisure industry consulting company that manages, markets and operates entertainment facilities, launched ProFun Management Group in 1999.
Its staff has worked with Disneyland Paris, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Aquarium of Pacific in Long Beach, as well as projects for Paramount and Universal Studios.
In addition to consulting work for U.S. companies, the company has provided operational and management services for projects in the Philippines, Australia, Brazil and Spain.
ProFun Management previously provided pre-opening and operational management support for the Volkswagen Autostadt, an interactive center in Wolfsburg, Germany.
