Merlin PE backers sell $615 mln stake – Reuters

Reuters – Two of Merlin Entertainments’ private equity backers sold 100 million shares in the British theme park owner for 366 million pounds ($615 million) on Friday, according to Deutsche Bank, one of the banks handling the sale.

Plans to place the shares by CVC Capital Partners Ltd and Blackstone Group LP via Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were announced after Thursday’s close.

Merlin is the world’s second-biggest operator of visitor attractions behind Walt Disney with brands such as Madam Tussauds and Legoland and counted Blackstone and CVC as its biggest shareholders after Kirkbi A/S, according to Thomson Reuters data.

($1 = 0.5956 British Pounds) (Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Pamela Barbaglia)