Lego parent buys Madame Tussauds owner Merlin for £5 billion

A consortium including Lego owner Kirkbi agreed Friday to buy Britain’s Merlin Entertainments, owner of Madame Tussauds wax museum and the London Eye Ferris wheel, for £5.0 billion ($6.3 billion, 5.6 billion euros). Kirkbi, which is the majority owner in Danish children’s toy maker Lego, said in a statement that it will purchase the tourist attractions company in a consortium alongside US private equity group Blackstone and Canadian pension fund CPPIB for £5.9 billion including debt.

Kirkbi already owns almost 30 per cent of Merlin following the sale of Legoland Parks to the London-listed group in 2005. The consortium’s bid vehicle Berkeley offered 455 pence per share in cash for Merlin, which also owns popular theme parks Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventure in Britain, Gardaland in Italy and Heide Park in Germany.

The price marked a significant premium to the stock’s closing level on Thursday of 395 pence. Kirkbi chief executive Soren Thorup Sorensen added that the acquisition would enable the combined group to enter a new growth phase.