Merlin valued at £3.2bn in IPO

The UK theme park operator floated a 30% stake, generating £957m for its shareholders. Net proceeds totalled £165m. The cash raised will be used to pay down the company's debt, which stands at around £1bn.

The listing attracted investment from institutional investors, including pension funds, which account for 87.5% of the new shareholders, with the remaining 12.5% going to retail investors. 

At the time of writing, Merlin's shares had risen by 12%.

The listing saw all of Merlin's shareholders – Blackstone, CVC and Danish investor Kirkbi – reducing their interest.

CVC and Blackstone had planned to list Merlin in 2010, but plans were scrapped because of market turbulence. Instead, shareholders sold a 28% stake to CVC. The deal valued the company at £2.25bn.

Previous funding
Blackstone acquired Merlin for £102m in May 2005. Soon after its initial investment, the private equity firm supported the group's purchase of the Legoland chain of theme parks in August 2005, as well as Italy's largest theme park Gardaland in October 2006.

Merlin acquired The Tussauds Group from Dubai International Capital for £1bn in March 2007. The deal transformed Merlin into the world's second largest visitor attraction operator after Disney.

Company
Merlin was established in 1979 when the first Sea Life Centre opened in Oban, Scotland. In 1999, Merlin Entertainments was formed through a buyout of Vardon Attractions from Vardon plc.

Today, Merlin is the largest entertainment company in Europe and operates 99 attractions in 22 countries across four continents.

In the year ending December 2012, Merlin counted 54 million visitors. Revenue for 2012 came in at £1.074bn, with a £346m underlying EBITDA. Merlin's underlying operating profit for 2012 stood at £258m.

From 2000 to 2012, the company has delivered average annual growth of more than 10% in underlying EBITDA.

Merlin comprises visitor attraction brands Sea Life, Madame Tussauds, The Dungeons (including the London Dungeon), Legoland, The Eye Brand (including the London Eye, Blackpool Tower Eye and The Sydney Tower Eye), Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Gardaland in Italy, Heide Park in Germany, Thorpe Park, and Warwick Castle.

People
Nick Varney is CEO of Merlin.

Advisers
Company – Goldman Sachs (Bookrunner); Barclays (Bookrunner).

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