Engineering company behind Test Track and Soarin' sold for $1.5 million.

[Jrb1979]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroli...dynamic-attractions-to-be-sold-for-2-million/

Dynamic Attractions, the engineering company which built many of Disney's most beloved rides, including Test Track and Soarin', is set to be sold for CAD$2 million ($1.5 million) to Hong Kong-based financial services firm Promising Expert Limited (PEL).

From the article it sounds like their new prototype coaster ended up costing much more than expected so it caused them to to sell their company.

 

[Disney Bobby]

I believe they just opened SkyFly in Pigeon Forge. Looks just like Soarin'.

 

[umichigan10]

I’m no expert in the industry, but that seems like a crazy low price for them to be bought for

 

[Jrb1979]

I’m no expert in the industry, but that seems like a crazy low price for them to be bought for

It's all they are worth now due to being in huge debt

 

[Brian Noble]

Yeah, they were in very deep trouble.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroli...ey-ride-manufacturer-puts-itself-up-for-sale/

(They did a bunch of Universal's more well-known attractions as well, including both Potterverse rides.)

 

[KYMickey]

It's all they are worth now due to being in huge debt

If that's the case then it sounds like they have more serious problems than just debt!

 

[Jrb1979]

If that's the case then it sounds like they have more serious problems than just debt!

It was debt that caused their problems. Here is the quote from the article.

"However, Dynamic had even grander ambitions than that. It had a vision of creating the world's most advanced and immersive roller coaster and the company bet the farm on it.

Called the SFX Coaster, it was first unveiled in a teaser video in 2014 and promised to combine a number of new and unique effects. They include a sideways drop, a vertical drop and a gyro table which can tilt and spin the ride car 360 degrees. World renowned theme park industry expert Robert Niles described it as "one of the world's most anticipated coasters" and developing it took the equivalent of 500 person years. This took its toll on Dynamic.

The uniqueness of the ride system led to Dynamic signing contracts to build SFX Coasters in a number of theme parks. They included Mission Ferrari at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and two attractions at the Genting SkyWorlds park in Malaysia. However, Dynamic under-estimated the complexity of developing the ride system and spent significantly more than the sums the theme park operators paid it in advance which are known in the industry as lump sum payments.


In order to fund the development of the rides, Dynamic got a number of loans with one of the biggest coming from PEL. In August 2022 it lent Dynamic $16 million secured on its assets and followed it up with a further $1 million unsecured bridge loan earlier this year. Paying back this debt has been anything but a walk in the park.

Dynamic's filings reveal that the development of the three SFX Coasters led to "significant cost overruns that exceeded USD$21,000,000." The filings add that "these cost overruns on the Coaster Projects significantly impaired the cash flow available to the Dynamic Group."

 

[Anjelica]

I’m no expert in the industry, but that seems like a crazy low price for them to be bought for

That’s what I was thinking as well - they must be straddled with some debt