Legoland sold in £258m deal
Legoland at Windsor was today sold as part of a £258m (€373.6m) deal with the owner of London Dungeon and Sea Life centres around the UK.
The theme park and three others in Germany, California and Denmark will now become part of Merlin Entertainments Group, which is owned by the US-based private equity group Blackstone.
Merlin operates 28 attractions in eight European countries under the Sea Life, Dungeon and Earth Explorer brands.
It is thought that Blackstone fought off strong competition for the sites, which are being sold to free up cash as the core Lego toy business battles against “extremely competitive” trading conditions.
As part of the deal, the Lego Group – owned by the Kristiansen family – will hold 30% of Merlin, which was bought by Blackstone in June.
The new company is expected to be Europe’s second largest visitor attraction business with 12 million visitors.
Nick Varney, chief executive of the new Merlin business, said Legoland benefited from a strong brand, which could provide marketing opportunities for the other operations in the group.
He added: “The new company will provide the investment and expertise the parks need – in both product and marketing – to take them to the next level.”
Lego Group owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen said it was important that Legoland found a new owner prepared to preserve the brand’s values “of playful learning and creative experiences of a high quality”.
