David Merlini has turned down an offer of $18.6 million for his House of Houdini museum in Budapest and the rights to Houdini's name. The offer came from private investment fund CCV (Centurion Capital Ventures). David posted the news on The House of Houdini Facebook page, explaining in part:
"The House of Houdini presents a private collection that took over 20 years to build, and it is currently the largest of its kind in Europe. Despite the fact that all of our exhibits, assets and trademarks are in private hands, we feel important to provide a publicly available update.
As entering the agreement would have been resulted in the transfer of all usage, administrative and other rights to the new majority owner, there would have been no guarantee to keep the collection in Budapest long term. As this is a basic principle of our Statute, we have decided to withdraw from the deal.
The House of Houdini has opened its gate in 2016 in the Buda Castle in Budapest aiming to pose a tribute to world famous Budapest born escape artist Harry Houdini through his original artefacts. We aim to fulfill our mission of preserving the heritage of one of our most famed compatriot for future generations with the same passion and enthusiasm. "
It makes me happy to see that honoring the preservation of their Hero's legacy is more important than profiting from it.
ReplyDeleteI had the great pleasure of meeting and enjoying lunch with David a few years ago In Butapest.. I was impressed with his devotion to the magic and history of Houdini .. A wonderful and exciting tour of his museum was very interesting,, I’m sure he’s has made the right decision.... Tim LaGanke, Novelty, Ohio USA
ReplyDeleteFor those who can't make it to Budapest, the museum, and David Merlini both make a very welcome appearance in season two, episode 2 of the Netflix series "Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father."
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