Madrid-based Parques Reunidos Group, which purchased Sea Life Park in April, has announced the acquisition of amusement park group Kennywood Entertainment and its five parks in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

The five parks are: Kennywood, the company's flagship park in Pittsburgh that draws more than a million visitors a year; Idlewild & SoakZone, an amusement and water park in the Pittsburgh suburbs; Sand Castle, a water park in Pittsburgh; Lake Compounce, an amusement and water park in Bristol, Conn.; and Story Land, an amusement park in Glen, N.H.

Parques Reunidos is the leading Spanish leisure park operator, the second-largest in Europe with parks in Spain, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The company also has operations in Argentina.

"The Kennywood Entertainment acquisition is part of the continuing strategic expansion project of Parques Reunidos Group within the U.S.," said Richard Golding, Parques Reunidos' executive president.