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).
 | |
| Company type | Private[1] |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 14 December 1998 |
| 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 |
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
| Name | Location | Year Opened | Year Acquired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton Towers Resort |  Staffordshire, UK | 1860 | 2007 | Acquired in Tussauds Group deal. |
| Chessington World of Adventures Resort | Chessington, Greater London, UK | 1987 | 2007 | Acquired in Tussauds Group deal. |
| Gardaland Resort |  Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy | 1975 | 2006 | Purchased in 2006 under Blackstone. |
| Heide Park Resort |  Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany | 1978 | 2007 | Acquired in Tussauds Group deal. |
| Thorpe Park | Chertsey, Surrey, UK | 1979 | 2007 | Acquired in Tussauds Group deal. |
LEGOLAND parks
| 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 | Günzburg, 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
| 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 Günzburg | Günzburg, Bavaria | 2024[28] | - | New-build theme park. |
Midway attractions
| 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 | 1894 2000 1981 | 2011 2007 2011 | |
| 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
| |||
| 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 | 2018 2019 2022 | ||
| Peter Rabbit: Explore and Play | Blackpool | 2022 | ||
| Sea Life | Birmingham Blackpool Brighton Great Yarmouth Castelnuovo del Garda Gweek Hunstanton
| |||
| Warwick Castle | United Kingdom | 1978 | 2007 | Acquired in Tussauds Group merger. |
Future locations
Cancelled and former properties
Former locations
| 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
| 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
In February 2016, Merlin purchased a 15% shareholding in Big Bus Tours.