Merlin Entertainments floats on London stock market

Merlin Entertainments has reported a 11.1% year-on-year increase in revenues for 2013 as it announced plans to issue shares to the public.

The EDF Energy London Eye, part of Merlin Entertainments
The EDF Energy London Eye, part of Merlin Entertainments

The company, which operates visitor attractions Madame Tussauds, Thorpe Park and the EDF Energy London Eye, yesterday (21 October) announced plans to float on the London Stock Exchange. It will sell at least 20% of its shares at a minimum investment of £1,000.

The document revealed for the year end 31 August, group revenue had risen to £888.7m.

Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin, said: "Merlin Entertainments comes to the market with a consistent record of strong growth in both revenues and profits and bright prospects for the future.

"We have successfully followed a clear and proven strategy to build a high-growth international family entertainment business, built on strong brands and a portfolio of attractions balanced by geographies, products and demographics."

As part of the announcement, Merlin Entertainments revealed a number of new appointments including four non-executive directors who will join the board in early 2014.

This includes Charles Gurassa, deputy chairman at Easyjet; Ken Hydon, former group finance director at Vodafone; Miguel Ko, non-executive chairman of Starwood Hotels & Resort Worldwide, Asia Pacific; and Fru Hazlitt, managing director, commercial and online, of ITV.

Sir John Sunderland, non-executive chairman of Merlin, said: "Over the past decade Merlin has become a truly impressive business, driven by a committed and dedicated management team and backed by supportive shareholders.

"I have been impressed by the significant growth that Merlin has delivered as a private company. But there is more to come and I believe Merlin has a very promising future as a publicly listed company."

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