Six Flags expands to Qatar with new partnership

NEW YORK - Theme park operator Six Flags Inc. said Thursday it is expanding further into the Middle East after reaching a deal with Qatar-based diversified company Oryx Holdings to open a Six Flags theme park in the tiny Gulf nation by midyear 2012.

Six Flags agreed to provide Oryx Holdings with concept development and planning services to create a 50,000 square-meter (500,000 square-foot) Six Flags park within Qatar Entertainment City, a mixed-use entertainment development.

Six Flags and Oryx will then collaborate on the design, development, construction and management of the park. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Qatar Entertainment City, a 1 million square-meter waterfront development, will also include a water park, rain forest, aquarium, 4-D theater and other family entertainment attractions. Abu Dhabi Investment House, a privately held investment banking firm based in Abu Dhabi, UAE, is developing the QEC project.

The deal is the latest move by Six Flags to improve its profitability by expanding outside North America. The New-York based company announced in March that it is partnering with Dubai-based developer Tatweer to build theme parks across the Arab world, starting with a five million square foot theme park in Dubai.

Six Flag's shares have traded below $1 since mid-September on worries that the company would not be able to pay outstanding obligations, particularly its Preferred Income Equity Redeemable Securities.

In November, Six Flags reported that third-quarter earnings available to common stockholders surged as the theme park operator increased revenue and reduced expenses, but the results failed to meet Wall Street's expectations.

"Extending the Six Flags footprint beyond Dubai represents another strategic step in our international expansion and further solidifies our reputation as a worldwide leader in family entertainment," said Six Flags President and Chief Executive Mark Shapiro in a statement.

The move also comes as the tiny Gulf nation of Qatar tries to diversify its economy beyond reliance on oil and natural gas revenues.

Like nearby Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Qatar is eager to attract a bigger share of the millions of foreign visitors that have flocked to the consistently sunny region in recent years.

Last month, the sheikdom unveiled an Islamic art museum in the capital Doha designed by I.M. Pei, and announced it was teaming with actor Robert De Niro and other founders of New York's Tribeca Film Festival to host a similar annual event starting next year.

Six Flags shares were flat at 26 cents on Thursday morning.

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Associated Press Business Writer Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this story.

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