British leisure company
Merlin Entertainments Limited
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/68/Merlin_Entertainments_2013.png/200px-Merlin_Entertainments_2013.png) |
Company type
| Private
[1]
|
---|
Industry
| Entertainment
|
---|
Founded
| 14 December 1998
; 25 years ago
(
1998-12-14
)
|
---|
Headquarters
| ,
England
|
---|
Key people
| Scott O'Neil (
CEO
)
|
---|
Revenue
| £
1,688 million (2018)
[2]
|
---|
| £
327 million (2018)
[2]
|
---|
| £
230 million (2018)
[2]
|
---|
Owners
| |
---|
Number of employees
| 30,000 (2024)
|
---|
Website
| merlinentertainments
.biz
|
---|
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 Kristiansen family, which controls
The Lego Group
).
History
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Resort theme parks
[
edit
]
LEGOLAND parks
[
edit
]
Name
|
Location
|
Year Opened
|
Year Acquired
|
Notes
|
Legoland Billund Resort
|
Billund, Denmark
|
1968
|
2005
|
Acquired in Blackstone deal.
|
Legoland California Resort
|
Carlsbad, California, U.S.
|
1999
|
2005
|
Acquired in Blackstone deal.
|
Legoland Deutschland Resort
|
Gunzburg, Germany
|
2002
|
2005
|
Acquired in Blackstone deal.
|
Legoland Dubai Resort
|
Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
|
2016
|
-
|
Opened as part of the
Dubai Parks and Resorts
development in Jebel Ali.
|
Legoland Florida Resort
|
Winter Haven, Florida, U.S.
|
2011
|
2011
|
Cypress Gardens acquired and rebranded.
|
Legoland Japan Resort
|
Nagoya, Japan
|
2017
|
-
|
New-build theme park.
|
Legoland Korea Resort
|
Chuncheon, South Korea
|
2022
|
-
|
New-build theme park.
|
Legoland Malaysia Resort
|
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
|
2012
|
-
|
New-build theme park.
|
Legoland New York Resort
|
Goshen, New York, U.S.
|
2021
|
-
|
New-build theme park.
|
Legoland Windsor Resort
|
Windsor, UK
|
1996
|
2005
|
Acquired in Blackstone deal.
|
Peppa Pig parks
[
edit
]
Name
|
Location
|
Year Opened
|
Year Acquired
|
Notes
|
Peppa Pig Theme Park Florida
|
Winter Haven, Florida
|
2022
|
-
|
New-build theme park.
|
Peppa Pig Theme Park Dallas-Fort Worth
|
Frisco, Texas
|
2024
[27]
|
-
|
New-build theme park.
|
Peppa Pig Park Gunzburg
|
Gunzburg
,
Bavaria
|
2024
[28]
|
-
|
New-build theme park.
|
Midway attractions
[
edit
]
Name
|
Location(s)
|
Year Opened
|
Year Acquired
|
Notes
|
Australian Treetop Adventures
|
Australia
|
2005
|
2010
|
Canopy walkways
acquired in MFS Living and Leisure deal
|
Blackpool Tower Circus
|
Blackpool
,
UK
|
1894
|
2011
|
|
Sandcastle Waterpark
|
Blackpool
,
UK
|
1986
|
2022
|
Operation from Autumn 2022
|
Cadbury World
|
Birmingham
,
UK
|
1990
|
2022
|
Operation and brand licences from summer 2023
|
The Bear Grylls Adventure
|
Birmingham
,
UK
|
2018
|
|
|
The Dungeons
|
Alton Towers
Blackpool
London
Warwick
York
Edinburgh
Berlin
Hamburg
Amsterdam
Shanghai
|
2019
2011
1974
-
1986
2000
2013
2000
2005
|
1992
|
|
Eye Brand
|
Blackpool
London
Sydney
Orlando
|
1894
2000
1981
2015
|
2011
2007
2011
2024
|
|
DreamWorks Tours: Shrek's Adventure!
|
London
|
2015
|
-
|
Uses characters from the
Shrek franchise
, licensed from
DreamWorks Animation
.
|
LEGOLAND Discovery Centres
|
Birmingham at
Arena Birmingham
Manchester at the
Trafford Centre
Berlin at the
Sony Center
Oberhausen
Phoenix at
Arizona Mills
Atlanta at
Phipps Plaza
Bay Area (San Jose) at
Great Mall of the Bay Area
Boston
Chicago
at
The Streets of Woodfield
Columbus at
Easton Town Center
Dallas Fort Worth
at
Grapevine Mills
Kansas City
at
Crown Center
Michigan at the
Great Lakes Crossing Outlets
New Jersey at
American Dream Meadowlands
Philadelphia at the
Plymouth Meeting Mall
Westchester (New York)
at
Westchester's Ridge Hill
Washington
at
Springfield Town Center
San Antonio at the
Shops at Rivercenter
Toronto at
Vaughan Mills
Melbourne at the
Chadstone Shopping Centre
Beijing
Shanghai
Shenyang
Hong Kong
Osaka
Tokyo
Istanbul
Scheveningen
Brussels
[29]
|
|
|
|
Little Big City
|
Berlin
,
Germany
Beijing
,
China
|
2017
2018
|
|
|
Madame Tussauds
|
London
Blackpool
Vienna
Prague
Istanbul
Berlin
Amsterdam
Budapest
Hollywood
Las Vegas
Nashville
New York
Orlando
San Francisco
Sydney
Beijing
Chongqing
Shanghai
Wuhan
Hong Kong
New Delhi
Tokyo
Singapore
Bangkok
Dubai
|
|
|
|
Peppa Pig World of Play
|
Shanghai
Auburn Hills, Michigan
Grapevine, Texas
Chicago, Illinois
Leidschendam
|
2018
2019
2019
2020
2022
|
|
|
Peter Rabbit: Explore and Play
|
Blackpool
|
2022
|
|
|
Sea Life
|
Birmingham
Blackpool
Brighton
Great Yarmouth
Castelnuovo del Garda
Gweek
Hunstanton
Manchester
London
Scarborough
Weymouth
Loch Lomond
Bray
Blankenberge
Berlin
Hanover
Konigswinter
Konstanz
Munich
Oberhausen
Speyer
Timmendorfer Strand
Helsinki
Jesolo
The Hague
Porto
Benalmadena
Istanbul
Paris
Arizona
Orlando
New Jersey
San Antonio
Melbourne
Mooloolaba (Sunshine Coast)
Sydney
Auckland
Shanghai
Nagoya
Iskandar Puteri
Busan
Bangkok
|
|
|
|
Warwick Castle
|
United Kingdom
|
1978
|
2007
|
Acquired in Tussauds Group merger.
|
Future locations
[
edit
]
Cancelled and former properties
[
edit
]
Former locations
[
edit
]
Name
|
Location
|
Year Opened
|
Year Acquired
|
Fate
|
Year Closed/Sold
|
Notes
|
Abenteuer Park Oberhausen
|
Oberhausen, Germany
|
1996
|
2011
|
Closed
|
2015
|
Formerly known as CentrO.Park (1996?2011) & Sea Life Abenteuer Park (2013)
|
Earth Explorer
|
Ostend, Belgium
|
2004
|
-
|
Sold
|
2013
|
|
Falls Creek ski resort
|
Victoria
,
Australia
|
1946
|
2011
|
Sold
|
2019
|
Acquired in MFS Living and Leisure deal, sold to Vail Resorts in 2019.
|
Hotham Alpine Resort
|
Victoria
,
Australia
|
1925
|
2011
|
Sold
|
2019
|
Ski resort acquired in MFS Living and Leisure deal, sold to Vail Resorts in 2019.
|
Legoland Discovery Centre
Duisburg
|
Duisburg, Germany
|
2007
|
-
|
Closed
|
2013
|
Moved to Oberhausen after a few years.
|
Legoland Discovery Centre
Hotham
|
Mt Hotham, AZ at
Hotham Alpine Resort
|
2018
|
-
|
Closed
|
2018
|
|
London Planetarium
|
London
|
1958
|
2007
|
Closed
|
2010
|
Acquired in Tussauds Group deal as it shares the same site as Madame Tussauds London. Closed and the space is now used by Madame Tussauds London for exhibitions & other attractions.
|
Madame Tussauds Washington DC
|
Washington D.C.
|
2007
|
-
|
Closed
|
2021
[30]
|
Closed since 2020 due to the
COVID-19 Pandemic
.
|
The San Francisco Dungeon
|
San Francisco
|
2014
|
-
|
Closed
|
2022
[31]
|
Closed since 2020 due to the
COVID-19 Pandemic
.
|
The Wheel at ICON Park Orlando
|
Orlando
|
2015
|
-
|
Sold
|
2018
|
Opened as the Orlando Eye; Operations were reverted to the owner and Rebranded in 2018.
|
Sea Life
Hastings
|
Hastings, England
|
2008
|
-
|
Sold
|
2012
|
Now belongs to the
Blue Reef Aquarium
chain.
|
Scottish
Sea Life
Sanctuary
|
Oban, Scotland
|
1979
|
-
|
Closed
|
2018
|
|
Sea Life
St. Andrews
|
St. Andrews, Scotland
|
1999
|
TBA
|
Sold
|
TBA
|
Now operates as the St. Andrews Aquarium.
|
Manly Sea Life Sanctuary
|
Manly, Australia
|
1965
|
2010
|
Closed
|
2018
[32]
|
|
Sea Life
Bray Aquarium
|
Bray, Ireland
|
1998
|
-
|
Closed
|
2023
|
-
|
Cancelled locations
[
edit
]
Name
|
Location
|
Year Planned To Open
|
Year Cancelled
|
Notes
|
Legoland Belgium
|
Gosselies, Belgium
|
2027
|
2023
|
Was planned to be built on the former site of Caterpillar's Gosselies factory and to be opened in 2027,
[33]
but the project was cancelled on 24 March 2023.
[34]
|
Bus operation
[
edit
]
In February 2016, Merlin purchased a 15% shareholding in
Big Bus Tours
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Merlin Entertainments Limited"
.
Companies House
. Retrieved
28 September
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Preliminary Results 2018"
. Merlin Entertainments
. Retrieved
18 March
2019
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Blackstone Acquires Merlin Entertainment"
.
blackstone.com
. 23 May 2005.
Archived
from the original on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
30 March
2015
.
- ^
"Blackstone Acquires Merlin Entertainment"
. Blackstone.com. 23 May 2005.
Archived
from the original on 30 October 2017
. Retrieved
15 December
2017
.
- ^
"Merlin Entertainments Group acquires Italy's Gardaland"
. Coaster Buzz. 16 October 2006.
Archived
from the original on 5 April 2016
. Retrieved
25 March
2016
.
- ^
"Troubled Lego sells theme parks"
.
BBC News
. 13 July 2005.
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2017
. Retrieved
15 December
2017
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"Tour Legoland California"
.
CaliforniaResortLife.com
.
Archived
from the original on 5 February 2016
. Retrieved
13 August
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Merlin conjures up leaseback deal"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. 18 July 2007.
Archived
from the original on 14 November 2017
. Retrieved
15 December
2017
.
- ^
"Blackstone Buys Madame Tussauds Chain"
.
Washingtonpost.com
.
Archived
from the original on 20 September 2016
. Retrieved
15 December
2017
.
- ^
King of Capital
, p. 313.
- ^
"Tussauds firm bought in £1bn deal"
.
BBC News
. 5 March 2007.
Archived
from the original on 5 December 2008
. Retrieved
12 May
2010
.
- ^
"Alton Towers sold in £622m deal"
.
BBC News
. 17 July 2007.
Archived
from the original on 23 August 2007
. Retrieved
12 May
2010
.
- ^
"Cypress Gardens Sold to Legoland"
. 15 January 2010.
Archived
from the original on 17 January 2010
. Retrieved
15 January
2010
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
AAP (17 December 2010).
"Village Roadshow sells Sydney Attractions"
.
Sydney Morning Herald
.
Archived
from the original on 20 December 2010
. Retrieved
17 December
2010
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
"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.
- ^
CVC Capital Partners press release
[
dead link
]
, 24 June 2010.
- ^
King of Capital
, p. 314.
- ^
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
- ^
"Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments agrees £4.8bn offer"
.
BBC News
. 28 June 2019
. Retrieved
25 August
2019
.
- ^
"Court approves deal for Merlin Entertainments"
.
Insider Media
. 1 November 2019
. Retrieved
2 November
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"eOne & Merlin to launch PJ Masks trail in 2020"
.
Entertainment One
. 5 December 2019
. Retrieved
16 December
2019
.
- ^
"Peppa Pig Theme Park Dallas Ft Worth"
.
- ^
"Germany to get Europe's first stand-alone Peppa Pig Theme Park"
. 30 June 2023.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"Madame Tussauds aims to sublease D.C. wax museum"
.
www.bizjournals.com
. Retrieved
15 March
2022
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"Manly Sea Life Sanctuary closes its doors after 55 years"
.
Sydney Morning Herald
.
Fairfax Media
. 28 January 2018
. Retrieved
14 September
2022
.
- ^
"Un parc d'attractions Legoland a l'horizon 2027 sur le site Caterpillar a Charleroi"
.
RTBF
(in French)
. Retrieved
30 August
2022
.
- ^
"Merlin renonce a construire un parc Legoland a Charleroi"
(in French).
L'Echo
. 24 March 2023.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Founders
| |
---|
Notable executives
| |
---|
Subsidiaries
| |
---|
Investment holdings
| Business services
| |
---|
Consumer/retail
| |
---|
IT services
| |
---|
Financial services
| |
---|
Healthcare
| |
---|
Industrial
| |
---|
Media/telecom
| |
---|
Travel & leisure
| |
---|
Real estate
| |
---|
|
---|
|
---|
Resort
theme
parks
| |
---|
Sea Life
locations
| Standalone
attractions
| |
---|
In resort
theme parks
| |
---|
Sanctuaries
| |
---|
In malls
| |
---|
|
---|
Madame
Tussauds
| |
---|
Dungeons
| |
---|
'Eye' attractions
| |
---|
Wild Life locations
| |
---|
Australian Tree
Top Adventures
| |
---|
Other attractions
| |
---|
|