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Authoritative Independent Monthly Share Selections Using Technical & Fundamental Analysis

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Secondary Recommendation

Merlin Entertainments - Shares in theme park operator soar to premium in early dealings

December 2013

Investing in shares may lose you all or some of your money. Past performance is no indication of future performance. Some of the shares recommended here may be small company shares, which can be relatively illiquid and hard to trade and this makes such shares more risky than other investments.

  • Epic Code:
  • MERL
  • Price:
  • 352p
Following the remarkable debut by Royal Mail, another new issue attracting strong interest has been Merlin Entertainments, owner of Madame Tussauds, the London Aquarium and various theme parks including Alton Towers and Legoland. Shares in Merlin, which is owned by private equity firms, Kirkbi (Lego's investment arm), Blackstone and CVC, were introduced at 315p in a placing which has raised £757m for selling shareholders and £165m net new money and have quickly soared to an 11.7% premium. The float comes at a good time for Merlin, which over the last two years to December 2012 has increased turnover 34% to £1,074m, EBITDA 55% to £340m and operating profit 26% to £199m. Merlin was formed in 1999 throug ...

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With small companies there is an above average degree of risk compared to buying blue chips. Please be aware that we have not assessed the suitability of any of these investments for you. The newsletter simply states a personal view and diarises the editor’s investment decisions. Please speak to your stockbroker or other qualified individual to ascertain whether any of these companies mentioned would form useful additions to your own portfolios. Past performance is no indication of future success.

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