Merlin Entertainments, the company which owns a host of assets, including Legoland, Alton Towers and the London Eye, plans to raise £200m by listing on the London Stock Exchange next month, offering investors a chance to gain exposure to some of the world's most iconic theme parks and tourist attractions.
Management says the initial public offering (IPO) will give Merlin a "platform for its next stage of development" and a more appropriate ownership structure, with the proceeds used to cut net debt, which is thought to have stood at roughly £1.3bn at the end of 2012.
The majority of the shares are currently held by private equity groups Blackstone, CVC and Kirkbi, who are each expected to sell a proportion of their holdings, with a targeted free float of at least 20 per cent. Kirkbi, the private company which owns 75 per cent of the Lego Group, will remain a long-term strategic investor. According to reports from Bloomberg, the owners are seeking an enterprise value of roughly £4bn. The Walt Disney Company, by comparison, has a total enterprise value of $134bn (£82.6bn) and posted sales of $42.2bn in the last financial year, with net debt of $11bn.
The offer will be open to retail investors, with a minimum investment of £1,000. Individual shareholders will also be entitled to a 30 per cent discount on either two adult Merlin annual passes or one family pass.
Merlin welcomed 54 million visitors to 99 attractions across 22 countries last year, generating cash profits of £346m on revenues of just over £1bn. Between 2008 and 2012, the group delivered average annual cash profit growth of 14.3 per cent, while visitor numbers increased 11 per cent a year. So far this financial year, sales have risen a further 11 per cent, supported by like-for-like growth of 7 per cent.
