Portugal sells landmark aquarium concession for 114 mln euros

LISBON, July 2 (Reuters) - Portugal has agreed to sell the operating rights for the Lisbon Oceanarium for a larger-than-expected 114 million euros ($127 million), helping to meet some of the debts of the public company that managed it.

The government said on Thursday it had sold the 30-year concession contract for one of Europe's largest indoor aquariums to Sociedade Francisco Manuel dos Santos, a family company that controls Portugal's No. 2 retailer Jeronimo Martins.

The sale is part of budget consolidation measures started under a 2011 international bailout deal, which Portugal exited last year after overshooting its revenue target for asset sales.

Environment Minister Jorge Moreira da Silva told a news briefing the government would receive the 114 million euros over the 30 years of the contract, but 35 million euros this year.

"The proceeds clearly exceed our expectations," he said, adding the winner would also invest 110 million euros in research and education projects at the popular venue.

Other bidders for the contract were Britain's Merlin Entertainments, Spain's Aspro Parks and Parques Reunidos, as well as Portugal's Mundo Aquatico, according to local media, which also put the book value of the property at between 40 million and 54 million euros.

The Oceanarium opened in 1998 as part of the World Exposition in Lisbon on the bank of the Tagus river and is visited by around 1 million people a year. It makes a profit of about 1.2 million euros a year on ticket sales of 10 million.

However, the sprawling leisure, commercial and residential complex built for the Expo has been loss-making. The public Parque Expo company managing it accumulated 230 million euros in debts, pushing it into bankruptcy and forcing the sale of the Oceanarium concession.

"This is good news for Portuguese taxpayers ... they won't be penalised by the Parque Expo debt," the minister said.

($1 = 0.9011 euros) (Reporting By Andrei Khalip and Daniel Alvarenga; Editing by Mark Potter)