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BURBANK – 02/08/07 – The Walt Disney Co. is denying published reports that it is in talks to build a theme park in Bahrain.

The announcement by the entertainment giant comes after several stories in industry publications, as well as newspapers in the Middle East, claimed that Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was negotiating to build an $8 billion Disney park in the 268 square-mile Middle Eastern emirate. 

The project, the reports claimed, would be based on Disney's existing network of 11 theme parks and would be called "Disney Bahrain."

The original story, citing an unnamed source, was published in Bahrain's al-Waqt newspaper.

According to the paper, Alwaleed is in on-going negotiations with investors including Kuwait Finance House – the Gulf region’s second largest Islamic bank by market value – and several other “Bahraini institutions.”

But a Disney spokeswoman has emphatically stated the company "is not in talks to build a theme park in Bahrain."

However, Alwaleed – the world's eighth-richest man – has a long-standing business relationship with Disney. He indirectly owns 10% of Disneyland Paris operator Euro Disney, and his Rotana Audio Visual Co., signed a deal last November to distribute Walt Disney products across the Middle East and North Africa.

A representative for the Kuwait Finance House in Bahrain has reportedly declined to either confirm or deny the report, while a spokeswoman for Bahrain's Economic Development Board and a spokesman for the state-owned Mumtalakat Holding Company said they had not heard of the deal.

According to Disney, at present, the only theme park the company is considering is one it’s planning to develop in Shanghai to tap into the economic clout created by China’s growing idle class.

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