Merlin Entertainments, the group behind London Dungeon and Madame Tussauds, today said it will make a play for the £4 billion Japanese theme park sector with its Legoland brand.
FTSE 250-listed Merlin will open Legoland in Nagoya, one hour from Osaka, in a £185 million deal, taking its total number of Legoland parks to seven. Merlin will invest £53 million in the park over the next three years and lease the balance of assets from Kirkbi — the Danish family trust which owns the Lego brand and has a 29.9% stake in Merlin.
The investment will be funded through a combination of equity and external debt provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Merlin’s chief executive Nick Varney, who aims to open a new park every two to three years, said: “Long term, we continue to believe that there is significant opportunity for the Legoland brand, with the potential for up to 20 parks across the world.”
Japan, the world’s second-largest theme-park market, already has a wealth of foreign parks including Disneyland and Universal Studios.
