Merlin Entertainments acquired by KIRKBI Invest, BLACKSTONE & CPPIB (CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD)

Led by the private equity firm Blackstone and the Canadian pension fund CPPIB, alongside the existing shareholder KIRKBI, the consortium utilizes the newly formed Berkeley Bidco Limited to acquire the entire issued share capital of Merlin Entertainments plc for an implied enterprise value of . Executed by means of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006, this public-to-private transaction officially delists the British leisure operator from the London Stock Exchange. The financial architecture of the takeover offers 455 pence in cash per share, representing a 37% premium to the undisturbed closing price prior to the publication of ValueAct's letter advocating for a privatization strategy. Overall, the pricing implies a multiple of 12.0x the target's generated during the preceding fiscal year, while the underlying asset secured a turnover of . To finance the cash consideration, the acquiring entity relies on equity commitments from the consortium members and a comprehensive interim debt facility arranged by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank. Strategically, the divestment from the public markets is engineered to shield the amusement park operator from short-term macroeconomic headwinds, allowing the new ownership group to deploy significant long-term capital expenditure. This investment phase will heavily focus on revising the License and Cooperation Agreement with the LEGO Group to accelerate the international expansion of new theme parks and discovery centers. Crucially, KIRKBI, which already maintained a 29.58% strategic holding in the target, is rolling over its existing shares into the new unlisted parent company, completely bypassing the cash offer for its portion. The board of directors, advised financially by Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and Citi, unanimously recommended the offer, acknowledging that executing the extensive required pipeline of physical asset upgrades is fundamentally better suited to a private capital structure. The integration will retain the current executive management team while keeping all existing attractions open globally.

In the past, the company underwent an LBO led by Blackstone in 2005, and continued an active consolidation strategy by notably acquiring The Tussauds Group (2007).