KidZania Singapore has reportedly gone into liquidation with S$53.4 million of debt to over 1,000 creditors.
The Khazanah Nasional Bhd-backed family attraction first opened at Sentosa’s Palawan Beach in April 2016, but it shut permanently after four years of operations on 17 June.
The company indicated that it has been a “challenge” to achieve the business returns needed over the years, especially when it recorded zero ticket revenue during the circuit breaker period.
Business Times reported on Thursday (15 Oct) that KidZania Singapore has gone into liquidation.
It highlighted that KidZania Singapore owes S$50 million to the leisure and tourism arm of Khazanah Themed Attractions Resorts & Hotels (TARH), and another S$3.4 million to customers, businesses and government agencies in Singapore.
KidZania’s brand was franchised to a joint venture between Khazanah and Boustead Holdings Bhd through Rakan Riang Sdn Bhd.
This means that TARH owns an 80 per cent stake in Rakan Riang Sdn Bhd, and another 20 per cent is owned by Boustead Curve Sdn Bhd – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Sdn.
The documents seen by Business Times had also listed the Singapore Tourism Board (S$27,400), the Sentosa Development Corp (S$207,400), and the Ministry of Education (S$62,300) as KidZania Singapore’s creditors.
It was also reported that KidZania generated S$14.4 million in revenue last year and a loss after tax of S$28 million.
Meanwhile, the statement of affairs presented at the creditors’ meeting – as seen by Business Times – states that the value of the firm’s assets has diminished from S$48.9 million in 2016 to S$5.9 million on 24 August.