Private equity firm set to buy stake in theme-park operator

Private equity firm CVC is in talks to take a 30 per cent stake in the owner of Alton Towers theme park as rival Blackstone looks to reduce its stake in the business.

A deal would value Merlin Entertainments at about 2.5bn, one of the sources said, with CVC Capital Partners, Blackstone and Kirkbi A/S – the Danish investment company owned by the family behind the Lego brand – each owning about 30 per cent of the business.

Management will own the remaining portion, while Dubai International Capital, which reduced its stake earlier this year from about 16.5 per cent to single digits, will fully exit the business that counts Madame Tussauds and Legoland among its attractions, sources said.

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The private equity firms declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Kirkbi said it was company policy never to comment on market rumours."But I can confirm that we remain committed to the investment in the long term and have no plans to reduce our ownership share," the spokesperson said.

Kirkbi owns about 36 per cent of the business, while Blackstone owns some 52 per cent. A deal with CVC would allow the US buyout firm to sell part of its stake and return cash to its investors.

Merlin had been considering an initial public offering late last year, pulling in Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Normura to advise on a float. But plans never got off the ground as market jitters derailed a number of nascent offerings earlier this year, including Blackstone's travel services group, Travelport.

Merlin has grown into the second largest theme park operator behind Disney.

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