SAN DIEGO CA-Merlin Entertainments, the owner of Seaworld San Diego, Legoland and other major tourist attractions worldwide, made an initial public offering Friday on the London Stock Exchange.
Merlin sold a 30% stake in the business, raising a gross total of around $1.53 billion (about £957m) for the company and the selling shareholders. After being priced at about $5.04, (315p), the shares jumped to about $5.68 (355p) in early conditional trading before closing up 7% to about $5.55 (347p).
Merlin also operates the London Eye and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London.
Merlin CEO Nick Varney said in a statement that he was "delighted" with the strong demand from investors. The company said that 87.5% of the shares for sale had gone to institutional investors, such as pension funds, while 12.5% went to retail investors.
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David Phillips
David Phillips is a Chicago-based freelance writer and consultant with more than 20 years experience in business and community news. He also has extensive reporting experience in the food manufacturing industry for national trade publications.
