In the past three years, the anticipation for the opening of Six Flags in Dubai has been going strong. But, that excitement has now been shot to the ground; it turns out the Dubai firm in charge of the whole project has put a halt to its plans to bring the famed theme park to the Arab world.
In doing so, the firm has agreed to pay a settlement of $7.5 million to Texas-based Six Flags Entertainment Corp. for the fallout. DXB Entertainments, which owns Dubai Parks and Resorts, announced its decision to put an end to the $454 million plan earlier this year, saying it will not go ahead with it any longer due to financial constraints.
The firm agreed to pay up to "retain exclusive right of first refusal for use of Six Flags' Intellectual property rights in the UAE for five years," according to Reuters.
"SF Dubai LLC has a [sic] entered into a right of first refusal agreement with regard to the intellectual property usage of the brand Six Flags and/or Six Flags Dubai," the company said in a statement on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
DXB Entertainments, which operates Legoland, suffered a loss of $58.7 million in the first quarter of the year, as reported by Bloomberg.
Construction of the theme park reportedly began in July 2016. It was even announced that the theme park will include 27 rides and attractions, and was meant to be home to the world's biggest roller coaster.
The majority of DXB Entertainments is owned by Meraas Holding, a development company owned by Dubai's Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.