Intra Asia Entertainment Corp

Intra-Asia Entertainment Corp., which operates one of the largest amusement parks in China, said it canceled its plans for an initial public offering. The Los Angeles-based company, headed by former SeaWorld executive Michael B. Demetrios, cited "difficult market conditions" in pulling the deal. It had hoped to sell 1 million shares at $7 each. The IPO market collapsed last year as many investors became reluctant to take a chance on young companies in a bear market.

Intra-Asia Entertainment Corp., which operates one of the largest amusement parks in China, said it canceled its plans for an initial public offering. The Los Angeles-based company, headed by former SeaWorld executive Michael B. Demetrios, cited "difficult market conditions" in pulling the deal. It had hoped to sell 1 million shares at $7 each. The IPO market collapsed last year as many investors became reluctant to take a chance on young companies in a bear market.

Universal Studios Inc. on Monday confirmed it is studying whether to build a theme park at a third potential site in China, this one in the southern city of Shen-zhen. Universal said in October that it signed agreements with Chinese officials to launch feasibility studies for potential parks in Beijing and Shanghai.

Universal Parks & Resorts has cleared a great bureaucratic wall in China. The unit of Vivendi Universal unveiled a preliminary deal today to build a theme park in Shanghai after lengthy negotiations gave it the early foothold over rival Walt Disney Co. in China's largest city. The Universal unit and Shanghai officials reached an agreement in principle to build the park along the Huangpu River and open it in 2006, although company sources cautioned that more government approvals would be needed.

Middle Kingdom or Magic Kingdom? The news that Walt Disney Co. might turn a secluded bay on a Hong Kong island into its newest theme park has triggered some soul-searching over whether Mickey Mouse and friends are the right torchbearers for a former British territory still struggling to redefine itself two years after its return to mainland China's control.