Merlin's £200 million acquisition fund

[owentaylor121]

I hope that they buy Camelot and give it a new lease of life. That little park has a great family feel,but I can't see them doing this mainly because they already have 2 Family parks chessington and legoland winsor in the UK alone.

 

[T0M]

It's been reported that it is to acquire an "unknown company".

 

[spicy]

^Where has it been reported? Source?

I think we are probably looking at them buying something like Ripley's, something along those lines rather than a theme park chain.

 

[T0M]

It's been mentioned on a number of business/investor-type websites. I can't be bothered to go link hunting now but it's out there in recent articles, try Google News.

 

[Ben]

Ripley's isn't a bad suggestion. They're based in Orlando, so adding it to their portfolio there would be a good idea. This is true for other areas where they have limited, but some, interests. Like Australia.

No idea how much they'd be worth, but, they've got 80 locations across the globe?

 

[furie]

It's been reported that it is to acquire an "unknown company".

I'd definitely spend £200 million on a company that nobody has heard of yet

I've got one actually, though obviously I can't tell you the name, but it's yours for half the price Merlin are paying. Just send me the cash and I'll send you the details

 

[Robbie]

I hope that they buy Camelot and give it a new lease of life. That little park has a great family feel,but I can't see them doing this mainly because they already have 2 Family parks chessington and legoland winsor in the UK alone.

Yeah, but Chessington and Windsor are at the other end of the country to Camelot - it would actually balance things out a little.

 

[Robbie]

As part of a wider discussion on the Olympic Legacy on Radio 4's You & Yours this lunchtime a tourism expert speculated that Merlin might take over the London Olympic Park when the Games are done.

 

[T0M]

Oh well, it was nothing too interesting in the end: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busines ... 6225556247

 

[Ian]

^ Yeah, quite disappointing from a theme park enthusiast point of view, especially one living outside of Oz. However, Merlin aren't just a theme park company so perhaps people should stop getting overexcited when there's a sniff of investment? Surely Merlin has reached it's theme park capacity for the near future?

 

[Ben]

That's less than half of £200million though.

So, are we seeing more to come, or is that figure just a load of crap?

A load of us did suggest aquariums <3

 

[marc]

They already own the Sydney Eye so it makes sense.

With Disney building in china I can see why they want to move there as well.

It's a shame the money was not put into stuff they already own tbh.

 

[Mark]

I agree that it would make sense they are looking in the Australasia and East Asia areas. The trade is booming over in those places at the moment, which is partly because of the new big name attractions lined up.

On a side note, my old boss from MT is actually heading to Sydney in the new year to become the General Manager of the SydneyEye.

Could it be a possibility they are looking to open an MT in Sydney too?

 

[T0M]

^ I think they are doing or have done?

And yeah there seems to be much money left over so I'm so there'll be another announcement soon - but it will be of similar disinterest to us I'm sure.

Unless the remaining money will be used for re-branding/investment in the new assets, not sure if that'd come under the usage of an acquisition fund?