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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