THE BLACKSTONE GROUP: MERLIN ENTERTAINMENT

The Blackstone group, founded in New York, is one of the largest private equity firms in the world with offices in USA, UK, Germany, France and India. The Blackstone model of investment operation is to invest out of a singel global equity fund so all its investments around the world tap into the same capital pools. One of the most attractive industries to invest for the Blackstone is theme parks and there are a number of reasons for that. The first is that such type of service business generates significant cash flow, second, there is a potential growth for attendance in Europe and additionally there is a weak competition for Blackstone among the investment firms doing roll-ups in Europe. The European fragmented theme park industry was the candidate #1 for consolidation and growth.

Blackstone’s first purchase in the theme park segment industry in Europe was Merlin Entertainment group, which operated 28 atractions in 8 European countries with 6 million visitors annually. Merlin was purchased for €149 million (US$187 million), €39 million(US$49) of which was equity. With this purchase Blackstone set a base for future follow-on acquisition opportunities in the