Blackstone has struck a £1bn deal to buy theme park and tourist attractions conglomerate the Tussauds Group from Dubai International Capital, it was announced this morning.
The deal gives Blackstone’s Merlin Entertainments Group control of some of the world’s most famous tourist attractions, including the Madame Tussaud’s waxworks, Legoland, Chessington World of Adventures, Alton Towers and the British Airways London Eye. It is now the world’s second biggest visitor attractions operator after Disney.
Under terms of the acquisition, DIC will retain a 20% stake in the company, which will be led by Merlin’s chief executive, Nick Varney. Peter Phillipson, chief executive of the Tussaud’s group, has been appointed non-executive chairman of the enlarged group.
Varney said: ‘With such iconic brands, the expanded Merlin will not only have strong development potential, but also an amazingly robust and high value portfolio. Our ambition is to build on this to become the world leader in location based, branded,
family entertainment.’
‘This situation is a perfect example of the benefits of private equity ownership.Both Merlin and The Tussauds Group have grown significantly as a result of the support of their private equity owners’, said Blackstone senior managing director Joseph Baratta.
Sameer Al Ansari, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Dubai
International Capital, added: ‘This deal is a natural evolution for the Tussauds Group as the combined firm will become the world’s second largest leisure operator. Tussauds and Merlin are very complementary businesses and there is an obvious commercial logic in bringing them together.’