Association of Leading Visitor Attractions

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10 Jan 2019

French company Looping acquires UK’s West Midland Safari Park

French amusement park operator Looping Group has acquired British attraction West Midland Safari Park, located in Worcestershire, England.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, sees the French operator add the zoo to its 14 other regional parks located across Europe in countries – including France, Switzerland, Germany and Portugal.

"We are very pleased to welcome a great management team and staff who will be key to developing the park into an even more exciting family destination, with our support and new feature investments,” said Laurent Bruloy, CEO of Looping.

"We want to keep the strong local anchorage of West Midlands Safari Park with its local communities and will continue the important role it plays in animal conservation in and ex-situ."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the zoo declined to comment directly, but did tell Attractions Management that "further information about this exciting development will be available later this year".

The park welcomed 700,000 visitors in 2018. The park features a four-mile safari drive-through and an array of wildlife.

Looping, meanwhile, was set up in 2011. It attracts around 4 million visitors each year with a turnover in excess of €100m (US$115.3m, £90.3m).