Spanish visitor attraction group Aspro has acquired UK-based aquarium operator Blue Reef Leisure.

Blue Reef currently operates four aquariums in the UK – in Portsmouth, Tynemout, Newquay, and Hastings – and recently announced that it will open a fifth site in Bristol in 2009.

The deal is the second major transaction for Aspro in the UK this year, after it announced that it had acquired the Oakwood theme park in Wales last month.

Aspro’s managing director, Carlos Marina, said: “The acquisition of Blue Reef will effectively double the size of our operations in the UK.”