Merlin Entertainments Limited is a global entertainment company based in London, England, which operates a number of theme park resorts and other visitor attractions. It is currently owned by the consortium Motion JVCO Ltd, which includes Kirkbi (the investment arm of the Kristiansen family that also controls the Lego Group) and Blackstone Inc.
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.
In May 2005, the company was acquired from Hermes by a division of the Blackstone Group, which later started a major expansion. Between 2005 and 2010, Merlin acquired the Legoland parks, Gardaland, the Tussauds Group, Cypress Gardens, and various attractions from Village Roadshow Theme Parks and Living and Leisure Australia. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2013 but returned to private ownership in 2019.
Major acquisitions (2005–2012) After the sale of Merlin to Blackstone Group, the company negotiated to buy control of the Legoland theme parks in 2005 for about £250 million, then merged it with Merlin. As part of the deal, Kirkbi A/S, the investment arm of LEGO's owners, took a share in Merlin Entertainments.
In 2006, Merlin acquired Gardaland theme park resort in northeastern Italy.
In May 2007, Blackstone purchased the Tussauds Group, owner of the Madame Tussauds wax museums, for US$1.9 billion, to merge the company with Merlin. 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.King of Capital, p. 313.
On 16 July 2007, as part of the financing for the Tussauds deal, Blackstone and Prestbury, the investment firm of Nick Leslau, announced a sale and leaseback covering Madame Tussauds London, Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Warwick Castle for a total of £622 million, with the properties leased back to Merlin on 35-year renewable leases. Prestbury's interest subsequently passed to Secure Income REIT, which merged with LXi REIT in July 2022; LXi was acquired by LondonMetric Property in March 2024. In December 2021 the leases over Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Warwick Castle and Heide Park were extended by a further 35 years in return for a capital contribution of £33.45 million.
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.
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. 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. On 3 March 2011, the deal was finalised. 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.
Public listing (2013–2019) 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 billionCVC Capital Partners press release, 24 June 2010. – 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.King of Capital, p. 314.
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.Why you shouldn't buy shares in Legoland owner Merlin Entertainment The Daily Telegraph, 30 October 2013
In 2015, the company opened the Orlando Eye Ferris wheel attraction in Orlando. It then sold the wheel in 2018 but repurchased it in 2024.
The freehold of the Madame Tussauds London site was sold again in 2015, to the Taiwanese insurer Fubon Life.
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.
Return to private ownership (2019–present) 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. The takeover was approved by the high court in November 2019.
Merlin opened its first Peppa Pig Theme Park in Winter Haven, Florida in 2022, with future sites planned for Texas and Günzburg, Germany.
Nick Varney left the company at the end of 2022, along with longtime Chief Development Officer, Mark Fisher. Varney was replaced by Scott O'Neil, who arrived from a media and sports management background.
In March 2023, Merlin cancelled a new Legoland resort in Belgium, which had been planned to open in 2027 on the former site of Caterpillar's factory in Gosselies. By the end of 2024, both Little Big City sites in Berlin and Beijing and the Bear Grylls Adventure in Birmingham, UK were closed.
In November of 2024, Merlin entered a $110 million dollar theme park deal with Microsoft, the owners of video game developer Mojang. This deal included themed rides, attractions, hotels, and retail outlets themed after the popular video game Minecraft.
O'Neil left the company at the end of 2024, with Chief Operating Officer, Fiona Eastwood, taking over as CEO. At the same time, the company began a group-wide restructuring to merge its Resort Theme Parks, Legoland Parks and Gateway Attractions divisions on a regional basis, which Merlin stated would bring them into "one united business" going forwards.
In 2025, it was revealed that Merlin were looking to sell many of its Sea Life Centres, but failed to find an attractive offer. In June, it was also announced that the majority of Merlin's Blackpool attractions would be taken over by Blackpool Council through their in-house tourism company Blackpool Tourism Limited. This included the Blackpool Tower, Blackpool Dungeon and Madame Tussauds Blackpool. In September, it was announced that Merlin was to sell its Lego Discovery Centres to the Lego Group, also a part-owned subsidiary of Kirkbi, with an estimated cash consideration of £200 million. The sale was completed on 27 February 2026.
Properties
Resort theme parks Name Location Year opened Year acquired Notes Gardaland Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy 1975 2006 Owner and operator; Purchased in 2006 under Blackstone. Heide Park Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany 1978 2007 Operator; Acquired in Tussauds Group deal. Thorpe Park Chertsey, Surrey, UK 1979 2007 Operator; Acquired in Tussauds Group deal. Alton Towers Alton, Staffordshire, UK 1980 2007 Operator; Acquired in Tussauds Group deal. Chessington World of Adventures Chessington, Greater London, UK 1987 2007 Owner and operator; 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 Windsor Resort Windsor, UK 1996 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 Florida Resort Winter Haven, Florida, U.S. 2011 Formerly Cypress Gardens. Legoland Malaysia Resort Johor Bahru, Malaysia 2012 - New-build theme park. Legoland Dubai Resort Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2016 - Franchised to Dubai Parks and Resorts Legoland Japan Resort Nagoya, Japan 2017 - New-build theme park.Legoland New York Resort Goshen, New York, U.S.2021 -New-build theme park. Legoland Korea Resort Chuncheon, South Korea 2022 - New-build theme park. Legoland Shanghai Resort Jinshan, Shanghai, China 2025 - New-build theme park.
Peppa Pig parks (co-products with Hasbro) Name Location Year opened Year acquired Notes Peppa Pig Theme Park Florida Winter Haven, Florida 2022 -New-build theme park. Peppa Pig Park Günzburg Günzburg, Bavaria 2024 -New-build theme park. Peppa Pig Theme Park Dallas-Fort Worth North Richland Hills, Texas 2025 -New-build theme park.
Gateway attractions Name Location(s) Year opened Year acquired Notes Cadbury World Birmingham, UK 1990 2023 Management contract only. The Dungeons Blackpool London York Edinburgh Berlin Hamburg Amsterdam 2011197419862000201320002005 1999 Brand & pre-1999 sites acquired in management buyout of Vardon Attractions. Blackpool site franchise only from August 2025. The Eye Brand London Sydney Orlando 200019812015 200720112024 The Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse Blackpool 2023 DreamWorks Tours: Shrek's Adventure! London 2015 - Shrek franchise licensed from Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation Studios. Madame Tussauds London Blackpool Prague Vienna Berlin Amsterdam Budapest Hollywood Las Vegas Nashville New York Orlando Sydney Shanghai Wuhan Hong Kong Tokyo Singapore Bangkok Dubai 2007 Brand & pre-2007 sites acquired in Tussauds Group merger. China sites (with exception of Hong Kong), Prague and Budapest are franchise only. Blackpool site franchise only from August 2025.Peppa Pig World of Play Shanghai Auburn Hills, Michigan Grapevine, Texas Chicago, Illinois Leidschendam20182019201920202022 Shanghai site franchise only.Sea Life Birmingham Blackpool Brighton Great Yarmouth Gweek Hunstanton Manchester London Scarborough Weymouth Loch Lomond Blankenberge Hanover Konstanz Munich Oberhausen Speyer Timmendorfer Strand Helsinki Castelnuovo del Garda Jesolo Scheveningen Porto Benalmadena Paris Arizona Orlando New Jersey San Antonio Melbourne Mooloolaba (Sunshine Coast) Sydney Auckland Shanghai Nagoya Iskandar Puteri Busan Bangkok 1999 Brand & pre-1999 sites acquired in management buyout of Vardon Attractions. Shanghai site franchise only. Warwick Castle United Kingdom 1978 2007 Acquired in Tussauds Group merger.
Future locations +NameLocationPlanned openingLegoland Sichuan Chengdu, Sichuan, China2025Legoland Shenzhen Resort Shenzhen, China2027Legoland Beijing Resort Fangshan District, Beijing, China2028
Former locations