As announced with a press release on June 5, 2007 Euro Disney S.C.A. has filed the request with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to terminate its registration as a foreign private issuer in effect delisting its shares from the US stock exchanges.
While this has no impact on exsisting shareholders, future shareholders in the US will have to obtain their shares from European stock exchanges at which the shares are still listed. According to Euro Disney S.C.A. the main advantage of the de-registration, if accepeted by the SEC, will be that Euro Disney S.C.A. would be no longer obliged to fulfill reporting duties under US law and is no longer under the oversight of the SEC. These current obligations result in significant costs that Euro Disney S.C.A. should be able to avoid in the future, once the de-registration process is finished.
The request came immediately after new regulations of the SEC became effective on June 4, 2007, which allow a foreign private issuer to deregister a class of securities if, for a recent 12 month period, the average daily trading volume of the securities in the US is less than five percent of their global average trading volume. According to its press release the trading in Euro Disney S.C.A. shares in the US represents less than 1 percent of the global total in the recent 12 month period.
These amendments came under heavy pressure from European businesses and states as more and more European companies who registered with the SEC in the recent years were interested in a de-registration due to the increased costs forced upon them by new reporting duties in the recent years and complained about the difficult procedures and, according to them, unnecessary complicated requirements for a de-registration, which now have been reduced.

The German Thomas Cook AG, international travel and tour operator, announced that it had agreed to a deal with MyTravel, the beleaguered British travel and tour operator. To this end a new holding company called Thomas Cook plc will be set up in London and soon be listed on the stock exchange in London. Said holding will control the operations of both Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel. At the helm of the new conmpany will be the German manager Thomas Middelhoff of KarstadtQuelle (the retail and mail order company is the sole 100% owner of the Thomas Cook AG after enterin into a deal in December to obtain the remaining 50% share of Lufthansa in the Thomas Cook AG). The new Thomas Cook plc will be one of the leading travel and tour operators worldwide with a combined turnover of roughly 12 billion Euro. Once the deal is finished in June 2007 MyTravel will hold 48%, KarstadtQuelle 52% of controlling shares.
So where is the importance of this news for DLRP? Well, with this development two international partner of the Disneyland Resort Paris merge. After all ThomasCook (through its brand Neckermann) is one of only two official partners of the Disneyland Resort Paris in Germany which is offering package trips for the resort through its agencies and through its website and also hands out a special version of the official brochure. MyTravel on the other hand is officially selling DLRP packages on the UK market and publishes a brochure as well. In addition MyTravel is the owner and operator of the MyTravel Explorer's Hotel in the Val d'France section of the resort. Due to its position as official partner on two important markets for DLRP the newly merged company certainly is in a new, emboldened position opposite the resort in any potential new negotiations. Whether this will have any impact on the market or the business of the resort needs to be seen, but for now the current contracts should still be valid for some time.
On another note the future of the MyTravel Explorer's Hotel might also be influenced by the merger. While no official statements and not even any rumors have surfaced yet it needs to be seen whether the hotel will remain a property of the newly merged company. Afterall the ThomasCook AG originally had partnered with DerTour (the second official partner of the resort in Germany) to construct the Park Hotel in Val d'France but prior to its opening sold the project which then opened as Mövenpick DreamCastle and in the meantime is called the Vienna DreamCastle. Having cut their first, upscale hotel in the resort loose prior to its opening it could be doubtfull whether the newly merged company under its German management is interested in keeping a second, less luxurious hotel in the resort and be subject to the fiercy price battle that still continues with the Holiday Inn at times discounting rooms below 70 € per night.

According to a report of Bahrain’s al-Waqt newspaper Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is in talks with investors to get a new Disney theme park off the ground in Bahrain tentatively called "Disney Bahrain" and based on existing Disney theme park concepts. The park is said to cost $8 billion, take six years to complete and would eventually cover 16 million square meters.
This would turn Prince Alwaleed bin Talal into a competitor of Disneyland Resort Paris, the resort which he repeatedly help save from financial collapse and in which he (indirectly) still holds a 10% stake - even so this is down from his past investment levels.
But even so his private financial wealth (as eights richest person of the world), his outstanding contacts (within and outside The Walt Disney Company) and his existing ties to The Walt Disney Company (as investor and business partner e.g. through his Rotana Audio Visual Co.) lend some credibility to the report, right now it seems as if the report could be filed with numerous other reports by the means of which states or cities try to get themselves into the running for one of the next international Disney theme park projects. After all no spokesperson for the Prince was available when contacted by Reuters and The Walt Disney Company already issued a clear statement, that it “is not in talks to build a theme park in Bahrain.”
Nevertheless sometimes where there is smoke there is also fire ... more details about this latest rumor can be found on the Mousekingdom Blog, which will also follow the development of this story in the future.

The next Shareholders' Combined General Meeting has been scheduled for February 21, 2007, at 9.00 am (registration at the event starts at 8.00 am) at the Convention Center of Disney's Hotel New York. According invitations with exact descriptions how to attend and how to be eglible to vote at the meeting have been mailed by the Shareholders' Club to all its members in the past days. Unfortunately neither the Financial Report 2006 nor the resolution booklet have been included in the mailing. These are available directly at the meeting, online from the
company website and are mailed directly from CACEIS - Corporate Trust for those who are holding their shares on a registered form through CACEIS - Corporate Trust, as well as those shareholders whose "participation certificate" arrives at CACEIS - CT by February 19, 2007 at latest. Please note that only those shareholders whose "participation certificate" arrives in a timely manner will be able to attend the meeting and vote. Shareholders are welcome to bring one (and only one) guest to the meeting.
Members of the Shareholders' Club attending the meeting can make use of a special 25% discount at Disney's Hotel New York and Disney's Newport Bay Club valid for room only bookings for the nights on February 20 and/or 21. Bookings are limited to one room (for up to 4 guests) per member and do not include theme park passports. Availability of rooms under the special offer is limited, reservations should be made under the hotline +33 (0) 1 60 30 60 72 with the password "A.G.M. 2007" and the Shareholders' Club number (the valid membership card must be presented upon check-in).
Those attending the meeting without staying at one of the Disney Hotels should note that the parking at Disney's Hotel New York will be restricted to guests of that hotel only. Instead parking is available free of charge as of 7.30 am on the main parking lot of the theme parks upon presentation of: the Shareholders' Club card or Admission Card for the meeting or "Participation Certificate" or the invitation letter mailed out. Dedicated shuttles will transfer guests directly from the main parking lot to the Convention Center (signage "AGM 2007"). Dedicated shuttle busses will also be available from the bus terminal at the train station for guests arriving by train.
And in case you plan to visit the parks after the meeting: the Disneyland Park will be open from 10.00 am till 8.00 pm, the Studios from 10.00 am till 6.00 pm. As a special bonus Shareholders' Club members are invited to enjoy the Salon Mickey not only from 9.00 am till noon but also from 3.00 pm till 5.00 pm (please note that the capacity of the Salon Mickey is limited and access is only granted while capacity allows).

As the smoke cleared it seems not much is left of the much hyped pre-announcement of an "unfriendly" takeover offer by the unknown Swiss company Center-Tainment for EuroDisney - and not much has changed, at least for EuroDisney.
In fact the share price of EuroDisney returned to its more regular 7 Euro-Cent after temporary gaining 2 Euro-Cent once the real bid failed to materialize. But the real looser here must be Center-Tainment. The lack of any real bid caused its stock price to plunge to a disastrous 0.35 Euro at 7.00 pm on December 1, - roughly 1 percent of its all time high of 34.50 Euro - bringing it's market capitalization down to 6.50 million Euro compared to 350.79 million Euro for EuroDisney.
This development might also be partially due to the fact that the French market regulator AMF (according to another report by Reuters
) required Center-Tainment either to submit a formal bid before Monday or refrain from any attempts to takeover EuroDisney for at least six months. The spokesperson also ruled out the concept of a bid offering shares of Center-Tainment, as hinted at during yesterday's press conference. As Center-Tainment is listed on the unregulated market segment in Frankfurt it would have to make a cash offer as "share swap offers" are only accepted from companies listed on regulated markets.
Nevertheless so far Center-Tainment has not reacted publicly to the demands of AMF ... so another final act might be coming up.

As Reuters in its report after the press conference described so poignantly Center-Tainment, "an obscure Swiss firm with no operations", "failed to tell baffled Parisian journalists, investors and regulators on Thursday if it is serious about trying to take control of Disneyland Paris" during its scheduled news conference earlier today during which it was to reveal the full details of its "unfriendly" takeover offer.
Earlier a first note was released that spoke of a 11 Euro-Cent offer by Center-Tainment for each share of EuroDisney, but not as a cash offer - instead as a share of Center-Tainment. But during the press conference Kurt Andreesen, identifying himself as independent investment banker for Center-Tainment, explained "unfortunately our chief legal counsel is sick so we have had to postpone the action for a few days. The official offer will come in the next days". With this the company basically withheld its prior hinted at public offer - at least temporarily. The market reaction was barely existent regarding EuroDisney which dropped from 9 Euro-Cent during the press conference to 8 Euro-Center in the afternoon (it had gained 2 Euro-Cent yesterday when the first news about an offer broke). Center-Tainment on the other hand continued its slide as its stock price dropped to an all-time low of 5.05 Euro at 4.00 pm after it had hovered around 7 Euro during the press conference.
Center-Tainment remains shrouded in mystery at this point prompting EuroDisney to "express bemusement over its surprise suitor" according to Reuters. Center-Tainment was first listed in Zug, Switzerland on may 19 according to Reuters after having changed its name from Orca and was later in September also listed in Frankfurt, Germany. During the press conference it was stated that Orca was bought by its shareholders and renamed purely as a shell company for the purpose of mounting a Euro Disney bid. It was further detailed that it had 45 shareholders, led by an unidentified German company, which together owned 99 percent of the stock, with only the remaining one percent being traded on the market. The company failed to provide full CVs or detailed information about the backgrounds of its management but stated that its executives had decades of experience in the leisure industry, including indoor soccer.
Regarding its temporarily delayed takeover offer information was very limited. Andreesen said that Center-Tainment had a plan B if its initial offer was rejected: "Maybe there will be a cash offer, as a next step, if our share offer doesn't work". The target of the offer would be to gain controll over the majority of shares, to be exact 50.01%. After thereby gaining management controld Center-Tainment would renegotiate the operating licence agreement with The Walt Disney Company according to it's CEO Ulf Werner, 60. While Andreesen claimed Center-Tainment would be able to organize for a management of the park "without Walt Disney", once it gained control of 50.01% of the shares, CEO Ulf Werner stated that this was not intended. Anyway neither of them explained how they planed to overcome the second hurdle to this plan (after gaining the majority control): the fact that EuroDisney's management is delegated to a 100 percent-subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company and TWDC has secured an exclusive right in EuroDisney's statutes to nominate any new manager should the current arrangements change. All Center-Tainment stated was that it would be able to solve this problem.
Upon questioning CEO Ulf Werner stated that a Swiss bank would be in the lead to handle the offer but failed to identify it, stating that "there are several banks ... regarding the lead position of the bank, we are still negotiating". He also claimed that Center-Tainment informed the French market regulator AMF of the offer (as required) "today" (November 30), but according to Reuters AMF still claims this is not the case.

EuroDisney S.C.A. has released an (in the English version)
6 line press release on November 29 stating that it is aware that a company listed on the public stock exchanges of Frankfurt, Germany and Zug, Switzerland scheduled a press conference for November 30, 2006 to make a public "unfriendly takeover offer for Euro Disney" but also states that it has been unable to obtain any further information from that company and therefore will continue to concentrate on the operation and management of the Disneyland Resort Paris.
While EuroDisney S.C.A. does not provide any further information regarding the company making this offer, Reuters has provided further information in an (in the meantime) updated story. The announcement has been made by Center-Tainment, which according to its own website is a holding company for companies active in the field of indoor and outdoor family entertainment. Nevertheless the website does not provide any information about any companies that would already be part controlled by Center-Tainment or any proof that the company is in fact experienced in this field.
The company according to Reuters claims that the target company has been informed about Center-Tainment's strategy and that the target's investment bank had been in contact with them and was now preparing a defence. Nevertheless Center-Tainment is confident that it can finalize the takeover in the reminder of 2006 and will gain an amount in the double digit million range if its 5-year plan for the target is executed.
While EuroDisney shares jumped by by 28.75%, equaling 2 Euro-cent to 9 Euro-Cent, yesterday when the news broke, it opened one Euro-Cent down on November 30. The shares of Center-Tainment meanwhile are down 60% to 8 Euro at noon November 20, after closing at 20 Euro on November 19. It is worth noting that Center-Tainment has a market capitalisation of 140 million Euros while the market capitalisation of EuroDisney stands at 312 million Euro (and its debt currently at 1.6 billion Euro).

More as the story unfolds as the press conference was scheduled for 11.00 am local time Paris.

Money issues have always put a dark shade over the park. One of these returning problematic issues is wages. Cast Member income has been a returning hurdle for the resort and as of today another chapter is added. The photographers of the resort have put their camera’s down and are on strike showing their unhappiness about their salary. They are given support by their union CFDT. The Photographers have taken place in front of the gates with flags and signs and are informing the incoming guests on the situation.

The Austrian hotel group Vienna International Hotelmanagement AG announced that it has signed a contract with the hotels owner UBX Development (France) SARL to take over the management and operation of the Dreamcastle Hotel at Val d'France in the Disneyland Resort Paris effective June 1st, since UBX terminated the contract with Mövenpick as reported earlier.
According to the group's press release it was awarded the contract after negotiations by UBX with several competitors, indicating that, even so the public was notified only on short notice the hand over was planned for a while already. Rudolf Tucek, chairman of Vienna International Hotels & Resorts, is cited in the press release further saying: "The confidence in our management capabilities has been shown to us mostly due to our 17 years of experience in resort- and city-hotel operations in eastern Europe. With this new hotel we enter the French market for the first time and thus further expand the portfolio of Vienna International."
According to the new official website the hotel's full name as of June 1st will be Vienna International Dream Castle Hotel Paris. Based on the website there are no obvious changes yet planned. The new website offers an online-reservation form but so far no prices are available.

MEHR IN KÜRZE

The Mövenpick Group released a press release informing the public that the Mövenpick Dreamcastle Hotel in the Disneyland Resort Paris will leave the hotel chain effective June 1st, 2006 - in less than 2 weeks time.
According to the statement this is not a decision of the Mövenpick Group but instead the result of a decision by the hotel's owner UBX Development (France) SARL - a subsidiary of the Warimpex Finance Company, Australia - to dissolve their contract with the leaseholders of the hotel Park Hotel SNC - which was formed by the two German tour operators Thomas Cook AG and Dertour specifically for the purpose of operating the hotel. The Mövenpick Group operated the hotel and a managing contract with Park Hotel SNC which now automatically terminates.
The statement does not give any further information, but it must be expected that the "Mövenpick" part will be dropped from the hotel's name as of June 1st. Also so far no information is available regarding the future operation of the hotel. Current, unconfirmed information indicates that the current management and staff is employed by the hotel operators and NOT the hotel owners. The website of Warimpex has not been updated yet to reflect the upcoming change but lists the hotel still as managed by the Mövenpick Group. At this point the hotel also still accepts online bookings through the official website of the Mövenpick Group.
The reasons for the latest changes are unknown, but in the past their had been numerous rumors that the hotel suffered under a bad occupation rate. The Mövenpick Dreamcastle was the last of the currently four hotels of Val d'Europe that opened and had positioned itself as luxury hotel, above its local competitors, and frequently charged higher room rates than their competitors in Val d'Europe.

MEHR IN KÜRZE

Euro Disney S.C.A. early today released its results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2006, which lasted from 1st of October till 31st of December, such incorporating the popular Halloween and Christmas Seasons.
Overall revenues grew by 4% compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2005, driven among others by an increase of 37% of revenues in the Real Estate Segment (equaling an increase of 3.4 million Euro). But revenues in the Resort Segment was also lifted 3%, with a 4% (3.6 million Euro) increase in the area of Hotels and Disney Village but only a 2% increase (2.8 million Euro) in the theme parks sector.
According to the rather lean explanations the increase in theme park revenues to 139.8 million Euro was mostly due to a higher attendance even so the average spending per guests also did increase. It needs to be awaited whether the attendance upturn can be sustained since the Christmas Season in the meantime has become the season with the largest number of repeat guests throughout the year meaning that an increase during this quarter not necessarily indicates that the general public is having an heightened interest again. Also it needs to be considered that the 1st quarter is the only quarter of the fiscal year featuring TWO extremly popular seasons.
The performance in the Hotel and Disney Village sector also improved. According to the statement due to improved occupancy rates and a higher average guest spending per room, the latter concentrated in the food and beverage sector. While Euro Disney S.C.A. did not comment on whether these numbers for the Resort Segment met their expectations they did confirm that the increase in the Real Estate segment (which equaled slightly more than 1/3 of the total increase in Euro) was "in line" with expectations.
Even so the figures for the first quarter are rather positive Euro Disney S.C.A. cautions in regard to the first half results, since the Easter vacation period this year will be in the 2nd half of the fiscal year while it contributed to the first half last year. Karl L. Holz, chairman and CEO, informed the press in a written statement that he is "pleased with the progress made in the first quarter on the implementation of our multi-year strategy" and points out that the "first new major attraction in four years, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blast [...] will open on April 8, 2006". Note that he clearly states his opinion here, that neither "The Legend of the Lion King" show, even so a major investment heralded by press Europe-wide, nor the much hyped "Space Mountain Mission 2" is qualified as a "major new attraction" anymore. Also note that the opening of the new attraction in April means that it will only contribute to the results of the third quarter.

Euro Disney S.C.A. hat heute die Zahlen für das erste Quartal im Geschäftsjahr 2006 vorgelegt, das vom 1. Oktober bis 31. Dezember lief und damit die beliebte Halloween- und Weihnachts-Saison umfasste. Die Gesamtumsätze konnten im Vergleich zum Vorjahreszeitraum um 4% gesteigert werden, unter anderem dank einem Anstieg der Umsätze im Immobilienbereich um 37% (dies entspricht 3,4 Millionen Euro). Doch auch die Umsätze im Resort Segment konnten um 3% gesteigert werden, wobei im Hotel und Disney Village Segment ein Anstieg von 4% (um 3,6 Millionen Euro) und im Themenpark Segment ein Anstieg um 2% (2,8 Millionen Euro) verzeichnet wurde.
Laut der im übrigen eher knappen Ausführungen ergiebt sich die Steigerung im Themenpark Segment auf 139,8 Millionen Euro hauptsächlich durch gestiegene Besucherzahlen, auch wenn die durchschnittlichen Ausgaben pro Gast ebenfalls leicht stiegen. Es bleibt abzuwarten, ob diese positive Entwicklung der Besucherzahlen andauert, ist die Weihnachts-Saison doch mittlerweile die Saison mit den meisten Repeat-Gästen und damit nicht unbedingt exemplarisch für das übrige Geschäftsjahr. Außerdem gilt es zu bedenken, dass das erste Quartal auch insofern einmalig ist, als es sich um das einzige Quartal handelt mit zwei äußerst beliebten Festivals - Halloween und Weihnachten. Im Ergebnis kann aus einem Anstieg der Gästezahlen in diesem Quartal daher nicht unbedingt auf ein in der Bevölkerung allgemein gestiegenes Interesse geschlossen werden.
Auch die Umsätze im Hotel und Disney Village Segment konnten gesteigert werden. Laut der Pressemitteilung handelt es sich dabei im wesentlichen um die Auswirkung der gestiegenen Auslastung, auch wenn die durchschnittlichen Ausgaben pro Tag pro Zimmer dank Mehreinnahmen im Bereich Speisen und Getränke ebenfalls stiegen. Euro Disney S.C.A. hat keine weiteren umfassenden Kommentare zu diesen Ergebnissen abgegeben, teilt allerdings mit, dass die positive Entwicklung im Immobilienbereich (die etwas mehr als 1/3 zur Steigerung des Gesamtumsatzes beisteuerte) den Erwartungen entsprach.
Allerdings warnt Euro Disney S.C.A. unterschwellig, von den positiven Zahlen des ersten Quartals auf die Entwicklung des ersten Halbjahres zu schließen, da anders als im Geschäftsjahr 2005 die Oster-Ferien in Europa dieses Jahr erst in die zweite Jahreshälfte fallen werden. Karl L. Holz, Chairman und CEO, informierte die Presse zudem in einem schriftlichen Statement, dass er "mit dem Fortschritt im ersten Quartal bezüglich der Umsetzung der Mehr-Jahres-Strategie zufrieden" sei und weist darauf hin, dass die "erste neue größere Attraktion in vier Jahren, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blast [...] am 8. April 2006" eröffnen wird. Dabei fällt auf, dass er also weder die "Legend of the Lion King" show, obwohl ein erhebliches Investment das von der Presse europa-weit gelobt wurde, noch die so gehypte "Space Mountain Mission 2" als "größere neue Attraktion" einstuft. Zu beachten ist aber auch: durch die Eröffnung der neuen Attraktion erst im April, werden sich deren Auswirkungen erst im 3. Quartal zeigen können.

As has been widely reported in general news media The Walt Disney Company is to acquire its long time partner Pixar in an all-stock-deal (meaning no cash is handed over but only 2.3 shares in TWDC for each Pixar share) worth $7.4 billion. Besides bringing the succesfull CG animation studios (and their rights library) into the fold of TWDC (and thus making it easier for Imagineering to use these rights for new attractions) the deal has significant influences on The Walt Disney Company itself.
Steve Jobs, CEO and chairman of Pixar, will join the Board of Directors and Pixar's current President Ed Catmull will become the President of the Pixar and the Disney animation studios. Both of these will continue to operate as different operations in their current locations. Ed Catmull will report directly to Iger and Dick Cook, the chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. Furthermore John Lasseter, so far Pixar Executive Vice President, will become Chief Creative Officer of the animation studios.
While all these changes only remotely touch the Disneyland Resort Paris (and the other resorts) there is one change, that will shape the future of the Disney theme parks around the world: John Lasseter will also be appointed Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering "where he will provide his expertise in the design of new attractions for Disney theme parks around the world, reporting directly to Iger"! John Lasseter actually is a former cast member of the original Disneyland where he captained Jungle Cruise boats (a stint he last year repeated during the 50th anniversary celebrations).

Wie bereits ausführlich in der allgemeinen Presse berichtet, wird The Walt Disney Company ihren langjährigen Partner Pixar in einem Aktientausch (d.h. ohne die Zahlung von Geld) im Wert von $7,4 Milliarden übernehmen. Auf diese Weise kommt das erfolgreiche CG Animation Studio (und seine umfassende Rechtebibliothek) unter die Kontrolle von TWDC (so dass es u.a. auch für Imagineering leichter wird, diese Rechte für neue Attraktionen zu verwenden). Darüberhinaus ergeben sich einige Veränderungen bei TWDC selbst.
So wird Steve Jobs, der bei Pixar als CEO und Chairman tätig war, in das Board of Directors von TWDC berufen werden und der aktuelle President von Pixar, Ed Catmull, wird diese Position behalten und zusätzlich President der Disney Animation Studios werden. Beide Studios werden übrigens in ihren angestammten Lokalitäten als eigenständige Organisationen fortgeführt werden. Ed Catmull wird in seinen neuen Positionen direkt Iger und Dick Cook Bericht erstatten, wobei letzterer Presiden von der Walt Disney Studios bleibt. Außerdem wird John Lasseter, bisher Pixar Executive Vice President, der neue Chief Creative Officer der Animation Studios werden.
Alle diese Veränderungen haben allerdings bestenfalls indirekt Einfluss auf das Disneyland Resort Paris (und die übrigen Resorts), doch eine personelle Veränderung, hat das Potential die Zukunft der Disney Themenparks weltweit entscheidend zu prägen: John Lasseter wird zusätzlich zum Principal Creative Advisor von Walt Disney Imagineering ernannt und soll in dieser Position "seine Expertise bei der Entwicklung neuer Attraktionen für die Disney Themenparks weltweit einsetzen" und berichtet direkt an Iger! John Lasseter ist übrigens ein ehemaliger Cast Member, der in Disneyland Jungle Cruise Boote lenkte (und anlässlich des 50. Geburtstages des Parks diese Rolle letztes Jahr nochmals wiederholte).

Congratulations to Vittorina Hetherton (seen here at the Fan Event last September) as the current head of Euro Disney S.C.A.'s Shareholders' Club and everybody else currently or in the past involved with the club - congratulations to 10 years serving the best interest of the shareholders and the company ... thanks in the name of all fans for putting up with us and always remaining as friendly and helpful as one can only imagine someone to be - may there be many more years!
And also: congratulations for having been award the 2nd prize in the "Fils d'Or" competition for best shareholders' service from La Vie Financère magazine in association with Synerfil.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an Vittorina Hetherton (hier beim Fan Event im September 2005) als aktuelle Leiterin des Euro Disney S.C.A. Shareholders' Club und allen anderen Castmembern die aktuell oder in der Vergangenheit sich für den Club engagiert haben - herzlichen Glückwunsch zu 10 Jahren herausragende Arbeit im Dienst der besten Interessen der Aktionäre und der Gruppe ... Danke im Namen aller Fans dafür, dass Ihr Euch immer wieder mit uns herumschlagt, dass Ihr immer so freundlich und hilfsbereit seit wie man es sich nur wünschen kann - auf noch viele weitere Jahre!
Außerdem: herzlichen Glückwunsch zum 2. Preis im Wettbewerb "Fils d'Or" für den besten Aktionärs-Service, ausgezeichnet durch das Magazin La Vie Financère gemeinsam mit Synerfil.

Euro Disney S.C.A. announced the departure of its chief financial officer Jeff Speed, who, according to the press release, has returned to the USA to "pursue another career opportunity". Turns out he has joined the new management team of Six Flags, operator of numerous amusement parks, e.g. Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles, as executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Jeff Speed had been serving as senior vice president and chief financial officer since 2003. Six Flags points to the fact that under his tenure the debt of Euro Disney S.C.A. was reduced and additional liquidity gained for the current expansion program - with this Six Flags hints that he should be the right man for their management, as Six Flags is burdened with a high debt as well and already had to sell off its European parks in the last years. Before his assignment at Euro Disney S.C.A. Jeff Speed already served as vice president corporate finance and assistant treasurer for The Walt Disney Company. His responsibilities there included worldwide capital markets activities, the project finance initiatives among others for the Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, syndication of revolving credit facilities and Disney's overall banking and rating agency relationships - making him back in 2003 the perfect choice for Euro Disney S.C.A.
His replacement in Paris is Ignace Lahoud, 40, married with two children from Spain. Ignace Lahoud already joined the management team of Euro Disney S.C.A. last October as senior vice president finance. From 2001 till 2005 he served as senior vice president and chief financial officer for The Walt Disney Company Latin America, Argentina. Before that he already held several other finance positions in the Disney group since 1991, including at Euro Disney S.C.A.

Euro Disney S.C.A. hat bekannt gegeben, dass der Chief Financial Officer Jeff Speed das Management-Team verlassen hat und in die USA zurückgekehrt ist, um, so die Presse-Erklärung, "eine andere Karrierechance wahrzunehmen". Wie sich herausstellt findet sich diese Karrierechance im neuen Management-Team von Six Flags, einem amerikanischen Freizeitpark-Unternehmen, das unter anderem Six Flags Magic Mountain nahe Los Angeles betreigt. Die neue Position: Executive Vice President und Chief Financial Officer.
Jeff Speed war seit 2003 als Senior Vice President and CFO für Euro Disney S.C.A. tätig. Six Flags betont, dass unter seiner Aufsicht die Schulden der Euro Disney Gruppe deutlich gesenkt und die für das aktuelle Erweiterungsprogramm notwendige Liquidität generiert wurde - damit stelle sich Speed als der ideal Mann für Six Flags dar, ist diese Gruppe doch ebenfalls durch eine erhebliche Schuldenlast eingeschränkt und musste bereits ihre europäischen Parks verkaufen. Vor seiner Tätigkeit für Euro Disney S.C.A. war Jeff Speed Vice President Corporate Finance und Assistand Treasurer der Walt Disney Company. In dieser Funktion fielen die internationalen Kapitalmarkt-Aktivitäten, die Projektfinanzierungsinitiativen unter anderem für das Disneyland Resort Paris und Hong Kong Disneyland, die Syndikation revolvierender Kreditlinien sowie die Kontakte zu Banken und Rating-Agenturen in seine Verantwortlichkeit - weshalb er 2003 auch als die eprfekte Wahl für Euro Disney S.C.A. erschien.
Sein Nachfolger ist Jeff Speed, 40 Jahre alt aus Spanien, verheiratet mit zwei Kindern, der bereits im vergangenen Oktober als Senior Vice President Finance zum Team von Euro Disney S.C.A. stieß, nachdem er von 2001 bis 2005 als Senior Vice President und Chief Financial Officer für die Walt Disney Company Latin America in Argentinien tätig war. Schon seit 1991 bekleidete er diverse Finanzposten in der Walt Disney Company sowie bei Euro Disney S.C.A.

CFDT, one of the most active unions representing cast members of the Disneyland Resort Paris, has asked its members and fellow cast members together with five other unions (CGT, CFE-CGC, FO, CFTC and Unsa) to protest the decision of EuroDisney S.C.A. to cancel this year's Christmas bonus for regular cast members in light of the financial situation, even so the mangement will receive their different bonuses - we reported. Since neither the storm of negative publicity in France nor a petition of cast members had had any success the unions have now called their members to protest the decision in public coming Thursday, December 29, from 8.30 am till 11.30 am in front of the gates leading to theme parks.
Guests visiting the theme parks on that day should expect to encounter striking cast members lining the walkways at the gates, but not stoping guests from entering the parks. If past experiences with such temporary strikes are any indication operation of the resort should continue mostly without noticeable interruption. Nevertheless guests should expect that their welcome to the magical realms of Disney will be suspended by the real world problems of the cast members at least temporarly, who will make their voices heared with posters, leaflets and some chanting at least.

CFDT hat gemeinsam mit fünf weiteren im Disneyland Resort Paris vertretenen Gewerkschaften (CGT, CFE-CGC, FO, CFTC und Unsa) die Castmember zum Protest gegen die Entscheidung von EuroDisney S.C.A. aufgerufen, in diesem Jahr auf Grund der wirtschaftlichen Lage der Gruppe keine Weihnachtsboni für reguläre Castmember auszuzahlen, wohl aber andere Boni für das Management nicht zu streichen - wir berichteten. Nachdem die weitreichende negative Berichterstattung in den französischen Medien und eine Petition der Castmember keine Erfolge brachten, sollen sich die Castmember nunmehr am kommenden Donnerstag, den 29. Dezember, von 8.30 bis 11.30 Uhr vor den Toren der Themenparks für eine Protestkundgebung einfinden.
Gäste, die die Themenparks an diesem Tag besuchen, sollten sich darauf einstellen, dass die Zugänge zu den Parks von streikenden Castmembern gesäumt werden, die Gäste aber nicht am Zugang zu den Parks hindern werden. Soweit vergangene ähnliche Aktionen als Indikator zu sehen sind, sollte aber nicht mit wesentlichen Unterbrechungen im regulären Betrieb zu rechnen sein. Dennoch wird der Eintritt in die magischen Welten von Disney zumindestens vorübergehend durch die realen Probleme der Castmember unterbrochen werden, die wohl wenigstens mit Plakaten, Leaflets und Sprechchören auf sich aufmerksam machen werden.

It started out rather "harmless": during the ongoing negotiations between EuroDisney S.C.A. and the union representatives the company announced that 7,000 to 7,500 castmembers in regular positions this year won't be payed the annual christmas bonus of roughly 100 Euro. As expected the most outspoken of the unions representing castmembers, CFDT, protested that decision and began circeling a petition against what they see as the latest decision of the management to put pressure on the employees in wake of the company's debt and negative results.
But at that point things turned sour for the management and the whole Resort. Not only did CFDT according to press reports get thousands of signatures in just 24 hours (and plans to continue to collect further signatures) all demanding the payment of their christmas bonus. But it also got the press to join the bandwagon as CFDT pointed the candid fact out that, while the company has repeatedly announced through spokesperson that it won't negotiate the christmas bonus for regular castmembers, it will pay out what CFDT says will be roughly 3,000,000 Euro as bonuses for executives and management.
EuroDisney S.C.A. tries to justify this decision by pointing out that those bonuses of 3,000,000 Euro for executive are not christmas bonuses part of the contractual agreed upon wages to be paid since those executives achieved before hand agreed upon goal. On the other hand EuroDisney S.C.A. says the christmas bonus of the regular castmembers are not part of their contractual wages but originally were bonuses allowing castmembers to participate in the profit the company made. Acknowleding that it did pay the bonus in the last years, even so the company made no profits, it points out that it made the decision in the last years to celebrate special milestones in the development of the resort, e.g. the opening of the second gate. This year, the explanation says, the group did neither made profit nor was there any special milestone to celebrate.
CFDT rebuts this explanation pointing out that this would be the first year since the resort's inauguration that regular castmembers would receive no bonus. In fact CFDT claims the bonus has become a part of the regular wages for castmembers. The only reason CFDT sees for the management's decision is its attempt to lower cost.
In the end the decision of the management can in the best case be filed under "suspicious". Besides the loss of goodwill among its front of the line castmembers, management has damaged the reputation of EuroDisney S.C.A. and with it the Disneyland Resort Paris in France and especially in the region of Marne la Vallee and Paris from which it needs to recrute future castmembers regularly. With the storm of negative press reports continuing the question must be asked whether someone hired Mr. Scrooge as adviser here looking only at the direct effect on the bottom line, ignoring the for the resort extremly important public relations implications of his decisions, that can be even costlier than the amount saved by not paying those bonuses. There is also the danger that once the reports get carried over to international press, the damage to the image of the Disneyland Resort Paris may even grow further...

Es begann vergleichsweise "harmlos": während der aktuellen Verhandlungen zwischen EuroDisney S.C.A. und den Gewerkschaftsvertretern gab die Gruppe bekannt, dass die 7.000 bis 7.500 regulären Castmember, die ind en Vorjahren einen Weihnachtsbonus erhalten hatten, dieses Jahr auf die 100 Euro verzichten müssten. Wie zu erwarten war, protestierte vorallem die Gewerkschaft CFDT, die sich regelmäßig zur Situation im Resort äußert, und verfasste eine Petition, um die Entscheidung des Managements anzugreifen, die ihres Erachtens nur der neueste Schritt ist, um die Angestellten zur Reduzierung der negativen Ergebnisse der Gruppe weiter unter Druck zu setzen.
An diesem Punkt aber entwickelte sich die Situation plötzlich extrem negativ für das Management. Nicht nur, dass es CFDT gelang binnen 24 Stunden über Tausend Unterschriften zu erhalten (und weitere Unterschriften werden noch gesammelt), um die Zahlung des Weihnachtsbonus zu fordern. Zudem sprang die Presse auf den fahrenden Zug auf, als CFDT darauf hinwies, dass zwar der Weihnachtsbonus der regulären Castmember einbehalten werden, das Management sich aber selbst einen Bonus im Gesamtwert von ca. 3 Millionen Euro gönnt.
EuroDisney S.C.A. versucht diese Entscheidung zu rechtfertigen, indem Sprecher daraufhinweisen, dass diese 3 Millionen Euro Bonus für das Management keinen Weihnachtsbonus darstelle, sondern vertraglich festgehaltene Bestandteile der Gehälter, die auszuzahlen seien, da zuvor festgelegte Ziele für die einzelnen Manager von diesen erreicht worden seien. Der Weihnachtsbonus der regulären Castmember hingegen sei nicht Bestandteil der vertraglichen Gehälter, sondern eine Gratifikation, die gezahlt worden sei, um Castmember am Gewinn der Gruppe zu beteiligen. Zwar habe man in den vergangenen Jahren den Bonus trotz Verlusten ausgezahlt, dies sei jedoch geschehen, um wesentliche Schritte in der Entwicklung der Gruppe zu feiern / zu honorieren, wie die Eröffnung der Walt Disney Studios. Dieses Jahr nun habe die Gruppe weder Gewinne erwirtschaftet, noch habe es einen zu feiernden / zu honorierenden Anlass gegeben.
CFDT weist diese Rechtfertigung jedoch zurück und weist darauf hin, dass damit 2005 erstmals seit der Eröffnung des Resort 1992 kein Bonus an reguläre Castmember ausgezahlt würde. Tatsächlich, so CFDT, handele es sich bei dem Weihnachtsbonus nämlich zwischenzeitlich um einen Bestandteil der Gehälter. Einziger Grund für die Entscheidung, sei der Versuch des Managements die Kosten zu reduzieren.
Tatsächlich kann die Entscheidung des Managements bestenfalls als "bedenklich" eingestuft werden. Neben dem Vertrauensverlust bei den regulären Castmembern, die täglich das Resort repräsentieren, hat das Management die Reputation von EuroDisney S.C.A. und damit des ganzen Disneyland Resort Paris in Frankreich und im speziellen in der Region Marne la Vallee und Paris geschädigt, d.h. gerade in der Region in der das Resort regelmäßig neue Castmember gewinnen muss. Im Licht der andauernden negativen Berichterstattung muss die Frage erlaubt sein, ob jemand Mr. Scrooge als Berater angestellt hat, mit einem Blick fixiert lediglich auf die kurzfristigen Auswirkungen auf die Zahlen und dabei die langfristigen Auswirkungen für das Ansehen und den Ruf ignoriert hat - obwohl beide von entscheidender Bedeutung für das Resort sind und hier die negativen finanziellen Auswirkungen schnell die Ersparnisse, die die Entscheidung bringt, übersteigen können. Sollte das Thema von der internationalen Presse aufgegriffen werden, könnte der Schaden für das Image des Disneyland Resort Paris sogar noch gravierender ausfallen...

In a surprise move Euro Disney S.C.A. today announced that the next Combined Shareholders' Meeting (General Meeting) is scheduled for February 10, 2006 and thereby earlier than expected. First quarter results for the current business year would be released prior to the meeting though, still in January 2006.
In addition to the scheduling announcement Euro Disney S.C.A. communicated that it will put a "reverse split resolution" up to vote. If approved by shareholders the management would be authorized up to the next annual shareholders' meeting (to be held in early 2007) to exchange the current shares in the company at an ratio of 100:1 for new shares, meaning for 100 current shares with a nominal value of 0.01 Euro one new share with a nominal value of 1.00 Euro would be issued.
This reverse split would reduce the number of shares by the factor 100 from 3,897,649,046 to approximately 38,976,490, in theory increase the share price by the same factor (currently the shares are traded for 0.11 Euro so should go up to approximately 11 Euro), while not affecting the total share capital of 38,976,490.46 Euro. According to the press release the "primary purpose" is to "reduce the price volatility associated with so called 'penny stocks'".
If implemented the criteria for the Shareholders' Club should be adjusted accordingly - but no word on that yet. Currently members need to hold a minimum of 500 shares and are waived the biannual membership fee if they own more than 2,000 shares. If the factor of 100:1 is applied to this criteria as well, membership would require 5 shares and the membership fee would be waived for holders of 20 or more shares.

In einem überraschenden Zug hat Euro Disney S.C.A. heute bekannt gegeben, dass das nächste Combined Shareholders' Meeting (General Meeting) am 10. Februar 2006 stattfinden soll und damit früher als erwartet. Die Ergebnisse für das erste Quartal des aktuellen Geschäftsjahres würden jedoch noch im Vorfeld im Januar veröffentlicht.
Neben der Bekanntgabe des Datums hat Euro Disney S.C.A. außerdem darüber informiert, dass man einen "Reverse-Split" zur Abstimmung stellen werde. Sollten diesem die Aktionäre mehrheitlich zustimmen, wäre das Management bis zum nächsten regulären Shareholders' Meeting (voraussichtlich Anfang 2007) berechtigt, die aktuellen Aktien der Gesellschaft im Verhältnis 100:1 gegen neue Aktien zu tauschen. Dabei würde für 100 aktuelle Aktien mit einem Nominalnennwert von je 0,01 Euro eine neue Aktie mit einem Nominalnennwert von 1,00 Euro ausgegeben.
Dieser Reverse-Split würde die Zahl der ausgegebenen Aktien um den Faktor 100 von 3.897.649.046 auf ca. 38.976.490 reduzieren, außerdem theoretisch den Aktienkurs um den Faktor 100 erhöhen (aktuell werden die Aktien für 0,11 Euro gehandelt, würden dann also auf ca. 11,00 Euro steigen), gleichzeitig aber das Gesamt-Aktienkapital unverändert bei 38.976.940,46 Euro belassen. Laut der Pressemitteilung ist "vorranginger Zweck" des Reverse-Splits die "Reduzierung der Preis-Volalität, die mit sogenannten 'Penny-Stocks' assoziiert wird".
Falls der Split umgesetzt würde, ist zu erwarten, dass auch die Anforderungen an die Mitgliedschaft im Shareholders' Club entsprechend angepasst würden - dazu fehlen allerdings noch jegliche Angaben. Zur Zeit ist Voraussetzung für eine Mitgliedschaft die Inhaberschaft von mindestens 500 Aktien, die zweijährlich fällige Mitgliedschaftsgebühr wird ab 2.000 Aktien erlassen. Bei Anwendung des Faktors 100:1 würden diese Grenzen auf 5 bzw. 20 Aktien sinken.

Jay Rasulo is continuing his drive to exercise his control over the division Walt Disney Parks and Resorts that he oversees in The Walt Disney Company. The latest change the former CEO of the Disneyland Resort Paris has introduced is an "executive committee" consisting of 8 members which will oversee all park and resort activities worldwide, including Paris. As an immediate result of the creation of the new committee the presidents of the resorts no longer report to Jay Rasulo directly but instead to the committee, whos members in turn report to Jay Rasulo. Jay Rasulo instead plans to take direct oversight of creative development at Imagineering as well as research and development in the resorts.
The committee is supposed to improve worldwide imple