Friday, November 11, 2005
BA sells its share of the London Eye for £95 million
On the 10th of November British Airways sold its third share in the London for £95. The BA London Eye was financed by BA in 1998. It put up the original £48 million to finance the construction, but has charged 25% interest ever since. The sale will include the debt. BA justifies its high interest rates saying that it was a high risk project that had to be built in 16 months in time for the Millennium. Despite being London's most popular tourist attraction the London Eye has made a loss every year since opening. This is due to these crippling interest charges. Last year the Eye paid BA £34.5 million in interest. Looks like BA have made a profit on the whole deal without even taking into account the advertising from the wheel being called the BA London Eye.The new buyer is the Tussauds Group who own the waxworks in Baker Street, Alton Towers, Warwick Castle amongst its empire. Tussauds was itself bought by Dubai International Capital earlier this year.
