Merlin_Entertainments

Merlin Entertainments

Merlin Entertainments

British leisure company

Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England, which operates a number of theme parks and other tourist attractions. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment arm of the Christiansen family, which controls The Lego Group).

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History

In December 1998, Nick Varney, Andrew Carr and the senior management team of Vardon Attractions (Vardon plc) completed a management buyout of the company to form Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd., with the backing of the private equity firm Apax Partners. Apax sold the company in 2004 to another financial investor, Hermes Private Equity.[3]

In May 2005, the company was acquired from Hermes by a division of The Blackstone Group,[4] which later started a major expansion. Over the years, Merlin acquired Gardaland, an Italian theme park, and The Tussauds Group. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2013.[5]

Legoland

When the Legoland theme park was up for sale, Varney wanted to buy it, but Hermes did not want to tie up more capital. After the sale of Merlin to Blackstone Group, the company negotiated to buy control of Legoland in 2005 for about £250 million, then merged it with Merlin.[6] As part of the deal, Kirkbi A/S, the investment arm of LEGO's owners, took a share in Merlin Entertainments.[7][8]

Tussauds

In May 2007, Blackstone purchased The Tussauds Group, owner of the Madame Tussauds wax museums, for US$1.9 billion. This company was merged with Merlin and has since been managed by Merlin.[9][10] After the Tussauds acquisition, Dubai International Capital, the previous owner, received a 20% stake in the combined entity as well as £1.03bn in cash.[11][9][12]

On 17 July 2007, as part of the financing for the Tussauds deal, the freeholds of Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Warwick Castle and Madame Tussauds were sold to private investor Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury, with a subsequent leaseback agreement.[13] Although the attraction sites are owned by Leslau, they are operated by Merlin based on a renewable 35-year lease.[9]

Florida

On 15 January 2010, Merlin Entertainments bought Cypress Gardens, a defunct theme park in Winter Haven, Florida. It was reopened as Legoland Florida theme park.[14]

In 2015, the company opened the Orlando Eye Ferris wheel attraction in Orlando. It then sold the wheel in 2018 and repurchased it in 2024.

Reports in early October 2017 indicated that Merlin Entertainments was considering a takeover of Sea World in Orlando, but on 11 October, the company said it was no longer involved in such discussions.[15]

Australia and New Zealand

In late 2010, it was announced that Merlin would purchase approximately A$116 million worth of entertainment attractions located in Australia and New Zealand from Village Roadshow Theme Parks and Attractions. The sale would include Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Oceanworld Manly, Sydney Tower and the Koala Gallery in Australia, in addition to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in New Zealand.[16] On 3 March 2011, the deal was finalised.[17] This was followed by the $140 million acquisition of Living and Leisure Australia which owned several attractions in the Asia-Pacific region including UnderWater World, Melbourne Aquarium, Falls Creek Alpine Resort, Hotham Alpine Resort, Otway Fly, Illawarra Fly, Busan Aquarium and Siam Ocean World.[18][19]

On 28 June 2013, Merlin Australia's Madame Tussauds in Sydney placed a wax figure of the former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, into a mock queue of the unemployed at a Centrelink office in central Sydney. Deposed by the Australian Labor Party in the evening of 26 June, and replaced by Kevin Rudd, the publicity stunt drew wide attention and international criticism for the blatant disrespect it cast on, specifically, the first female prime minister of Australia.[20]

Listing

Merlin had planned to go public in the early 2000s, but market turbulence postponed those plans. Instead, Blackstone sold 20% of the company to the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, reducing Blackstone's holding to 34%. CVC acquired another 8% from the Dubai investment fund which is no longer involved with the company, giving it 28% in all. Kirkbi, a Danish family trust that owns LEGO, also increased its stake, emerging as the largest shareholder, with 36%. CVC paid a price that valued Merlin at £2.25 billion[21] – more than six times what Merlin and Legoland together were worth when Blackstone acquired them five years earlier. Blackstone's investment was by that point worth more than three and a half times what it had paid.[22]

On 8 November 2013, Merlin floated 30% of the company on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the private equity-backed company at almost £3.4bn.[23]

In June 2019, the company's board agreed to recommend a takeover offer of £4.8 billion from a consortium consisting of Kirkbi A/S, CPP Investment Board and The Blackstone Group.[24] The takeover was approved by the high court in November 2019.[25]

eOne's multi-territory partnership with Merlin

On 5 December 2019, Entertainment One announced a new multi-territory partnership with Merlin that would open an interactive PJ Masks nautical-themed trail throughout the company's Sea Life aquariums worldwide starting in February 2020.[26]

Further tying into the collaboration between Merlin and eOne, select episodes of PJ Masks season 4 will feature underwater adventures.[26]

Properties

Resort theme parks

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LEGOLAND parks

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Peppa Pig parks

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Midway attractions

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Future locations

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Cancelled and former properties

Former locations

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Cancelled locations

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Bus operation

In February 2016, Merlin purchased a 15% shareholding in Big Bus Tours.

References

  1. [1]
    "Merlin Entertainments Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Preliminary Results 2018". Merlin Entertainments. Retrieved 18 March 2019.[permanent dead link]
  3. [3]
    "Blackstone Acquires Merlin Entertainment". blackstone.com. 23 May 2005. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  4. [4]
    "Blackstone Acquires Merlin Entertainment". Blackstone.com. 23 May 2005. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  5. [5]
    "Merlin Entertainments Group acquires Italy's Gardaland". Coaster Buzz. 16 October 2006. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  6. [6]
    "Troubled Lego sells theme parks". BBC News. 13 July 2005. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  7. [7]
    "Why you shouldn't buy shares in Legoland owner Merlin Entertainment". Telegraph.co.uk. 30 October 2013. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  8. [8]
    "Tour Legoland California". CaliforniaResortLife.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. [9]
    "Merlin conjures up leaseback deal". The Daily Telegraph. 18 July 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  10. [10]
    "Blackstone Buys Madame Tussauds Chain". Washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  11. [11]
    King of Capital, p. 313.
  12. [12]
    "Tussauds firm bought in £1bn deal". BBC News. 5 March 2007. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  13. [13]
    "Alton Towers sold in £622m deal". BBC News. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  14. [14]
    "Cypress Gardens Sold to Legoland". 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  15. [15]
    "Legoland and Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments waves goodbye to SeaWorld deal | City A.M". City A.M. 11 October 2017. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  16. [16]
    AAP (17 December 2010). "Village Roadshow sells Sydney Attractions". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  17. [17]
    AAP (3 March 2011). "Plans for a Madame Tussauds in Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  18. [18]
    Ooi, Teresa (20 December 2011). "Merlin Entertainments Group conjures $140m James Packer bid". The Australian. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  19. [19]
    Danckert, Sarah (13 February 2012). "Merlin ready to wrap up Living and Leisure deal". The Australian. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  20. [20]
    "A wax figurine of Julia Gillard at Centrelink isn't a publicity stunt, it's just plain stupid - and offensive". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013.
  21. [21]
    CVC Capital Partners press release[dead link], 24 June 2010.
  22. [22]
    King of Capital, p. 314.
  23. [23]
    Why you shouldn't buy shares in Legoland owner Merlin Entertainment Archived 27 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine The Daily Telegraph, 30 October 2013
  24. [24]
    "Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments agrees £4.8bn offer". BBC News. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  25. [25]
    "Court approves deal for Merlin Entertainments". Insider Media. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  26. [26]
    "eOne & Merlin to launch PJ Masks trail in 2020". Entertainment One. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  27. [27]
    "Peppa Pig Theme Park Dallas Ft Worth".
  28. [28]
    "Germany to get Europe's first stand-alone Peppa Pig Theme Park". 30 June 2023.
  29. [29]
    "Merlin to take Legoland Discovery Centres to Belgium with deal for Brussels site | attractionsmanagement.com news". attractionsmanagement.com/. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  30. [30]
    "Madame Tussauds aims to sublease D.C. wax museum". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  31. [31]
    "The 'San Francisco Dungeon' at Fisherman's Wharf Has Spooked Its Last Tourist". SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports. 14 February 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  32. [32]
    "Manly Sea Life Sanctuary closes its doors after 55 years". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  33. [33]
    "Un parc d'attractions Legoland à l'horizon 2027 sur le site Caterpillar à Charleroi". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  34. [34]
    "Merlin renonce à construire un parc Legoland à Charleroi" (in French). L'Echo. 24 March 2023.
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