Almost forty years after its start, the operation of Euro Disneyland in Marne-la-Vallée is a success. For the Court of Auditors in a report released this Friday, January 10, it is no longer necessary for the State to transfer land to Mickey at preferential rates which are then resold to developers.
While the price of land has soared in recent decades in Île-de-France, Euro Disney still benefits from the value of land established in 1987. In a report published this Friday, January 10, the regional chamber of accounts d Île-de-France considers that this advantage guaranteed by an agreement signed at the time between the State and Disney is no longer justified.
In an area currently made up of 2,118 hectares, Disney has a purchase option on all the developed land. Concretely, the company can acquire any plot for sale from EPA France (public land establishment) at cost price. The State sells the land at the price set in 1987 and adds the cost of any development work as well as a 25% margin for structural costs.
Why such an advantage? At the time, the leisure park was located on rural land in a new town of Marne-la-Vallée which was still underdeveloped. The State then agrees to compensate for the uncertainties which weighed on the economic viability of the project.
A sale to Deloitte at a price multiplied by 10
Mickey’s company takes advantage of this system to make significant capital gains by reselling this land acquired from the public authorities at the current market price.
“The capital gains that it thus realizes vary considerably, from +33% to ten times the acquisition price, with an average, for the transactions observed, of a resale at three times the acquisition price” , explain the magistrates, citing the example of the installation of the consulting firm Deloitte in 2019 on a plot of land of just under 15 hectares.
“As this is a very large plot, the block in question requires very little work: the balance of the forecast at the end of the business stands at 1.59 million works and acquisitions, and 2.69 million euros in proceeds from sales, leaving a margin for the EPA of 1.1 million euros The land was sold by the EPA to the company Euro Disney for 1.63 million, and has. was sold the same day by this company 17.2 million euros, a price multiplied by more than 10”, figures the report.
An advantage valid until 2040
For the Court of Auditors, this practice is no longer understandable today. “The capture of such capital gains no longer has any economic justification today, given the success of the establishment of Euro Disney and the levels reached by land prices in Île-de-France.” Moreover, the magistrates are surprised by EPA France’s inability to assess the amount of revenue it has given up.
Until 2040, Disney will be able to continue to benefit from this system. The company agreed to participate a little more in the financing of municipal public facilities and to take charge of sanitation basins. Mickey is not required, however, to prepare a financial statement.
Therefore, the Court of Auditors recommends when signing a new agreement, by 2040, to impose on Disney and EPA France a review of the expenses incurred, the revenues generated and the benefits granted.
