Merlin Entertainments

British leisure company that famously owned Alton Towers

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2025 Planned opening of Legoland Sichuan Resort in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
2025 Planned opening of Legoland Shanghai Resort in Jinshan District, Shanghai, China.
2025 Merlin Entertainments plans to open a Peppa Pig Theme Park in North Richland Hills, Texas, United States.
2024 Merlin Entertainments repurchased the Orlando Eye Ferris wheel.
2024 Planned opening of Legoland Discovery Centres in Hamburg, Germany.
2024 Merlin Entertainments plans to open a Peppa Pig Park in Günzburg, Bavaria, Germany as a new-build theme park.
2024 Planned opening of Legoland Beijing Resort in Fangshan District, Beijing, China.
2023 Following the sale of Entertainment One to Lionsgate Studios, Hasbro retained the partnership with Merlin Entertainments.
March 24 2023 Merlin Entertainments cancelled the planned Legoland Belgium project in Gosselies, which was originally scheduled to open in 2027.
2022 Opened LEGOLAND Korea Resort as a new-build theme park in Chuncheon, South Korea.
2022 Merlin Entertainments opened the Peppa Pig Theme Park in Winter Haven, Florida, United States, as a new-build theme park.
2021 Opened LEGOLAND New York Resort as a new-build theme park in Goshen, New York, United States.
February 2020 PJ Masks nautical-themed trail launched in Merlin's Sea Life aquariums worldwide as part of the partnership with Entertainment One.
2019 Merlin Entertainments sold Falls Creek and Hotham Alpine Resorts to Vail Resorts.
December 5 2019 Entertainment One announced a new multi-territory partnership with Merlin Entertainments, planning to create a PJ Masks nautical-themed trail across Sea Life aquariums worldwide, set to launch in February 2020.
November 2019 Merlin Entertainments was delisted from the London Stock Exchange after being acquired by a consortium including Kirkbi A/S (the investment arm of the Lego Group's controlling Kristiansen family).
June 2019 The company's board agreed to recommend a takeover offer of £4.8 billion from a consortium including Kirkbi A/S, CPP Investment Board, and The Blackstone Group.
2018 Merlin Entertainments sold the Orlando Eye Ferris wheel.
2018 The Bear Grylls Adventure opened in Birmingham, UK.
2017 Opened LEGOLAND Japan Resort as a new-build theme park in Nagoya, Japan.
October 11 2017 Merlin Entertainments officially withdrew from potential takeover discussions with Sea World in Orlando.
2016 Opened LEGOLAND Dubai in Jebel Ali as part of the Dubai Parks and Resorts development.
February 2016 Merlin Entertainments acquired a 15% shareholding in Big Bus Tours, expanding its presence in the tourist transportation sector.
2015 DreamWorks Tours: Shrek's Adventure! launched in London, using licensed Shrek franchise characters.
2015 Merlin Entertainments opened the Orlando Eye Ferris wheel attraction in Orlando.
November 8 2013 Merlin floated 30% of the company on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at almost £3.4 billion.
June 28 2013 Merlin Australia's Madame Tussauds in Sydney created a controversial publicity stunt by placing a wax figure of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a mock Centrelink unemployment queue, following her political deposition on 26 June.
2012 Opened LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort as a new-build theme park in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
2011 Merlin Entertainments acquired Abenteuer Park Oberhausen in Germany, formerly known as CentrO.Park (1996–2011) & Sea Life Abenteuer Park (2013).
2011 Merlin completed a $140 million acquisition of Living and Leisure Australia, which owned multiple attractions in the Asia-Pacific region including UnderWater World, Melbourne Aquarium, Falls Creek Alpine Resort, Hotham Alpine Resort, Otway Fly, Illawarra Fly, Busan Aquarium, and Siam Ocean World.
March 3 2011 Merlin finalized the acquisition of entertainment attractions in Australia and New Zealand from Village Roadshow Theme Parks.
2010 Merlin Entertainments announced the planned purchase of approximately A$116 million worth of entertainment attractions in Australia and New Zealand from Village Roadshow Theme Parks, including Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Oceanworld Manly, Sydney Tower, Koala Gallery, and Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World.
2010 London Planetarium was closed, and the space was repurposed by Madame Tussauds London for exhibitions and other attractions.
January 15 2010 Merlin Entertainments acquired Cypress Gardens theme park in Winter Haven, Florida, and later reopened it as Legoland Florida theme park.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Merlin Entertainments, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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