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Merlin Entertainment
Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment arm of the Christiansen family, which controls The Lego Group). History In December 1998, Nick Varney, Andrew Carr and the senior management team of Vardon Attractions (Vardon plc) completed a management buyout of the company to form Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd., with the backing of the private equity firm Apax Partners. Apax sold the company in 2004 to another financial investor, Hermes Private Equity. In May 2005, the company was acquired from Hermes by a division of The Blackstone Group, which later started a major expansion. Over the years, Merlin acquired Gardaland, an Italian theme park, and The Tussauds Group. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2013. Legoland When the Legoland theme park was up fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merlin Entertainments 2013
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and legendary figures, was introduced by the 12th-century British author Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is believed that Geoffrey combined earlier tales of Myrddin and Ambrosius, two legendary Briton prophets with no connection to Arthur, to form the composite figure called Merlinus Ambrosius ( cy, Myrddin Emrys, br, Merzhin Ambroaz). Geoffrey's rendering of the character became immediately popular, especially in Wales. Later writers in France and elsewhere expanded the account to produce a fuller image, creating one of the most important figures in the imagination and literature of the Middle Ages. Merlin's traditional biography casts him as an often-mad being born of a mortal woman, sired by an incubus, from whom he inherits his supernatural power ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gardaland
Gardaland Resort is an amusement park located in northeastern Italy. Opened on 19 July 1975, the resort includes Gardaland Park, Gardaland Sea-Life, Legoland Waterpark, Gardaland Hotel, Adventure Hotel and Magic Hotel. It is adjacent to Lake Garda. The entire complex covers an area of , while the theme park alone measures . Sporting both traditional attractions and entertainment shows, it attracts nearly 3 million visitors every year. In June 2005, Gardaland was ranked fifth in Forbes Magazine's list of the top ten amusement parks in the world, with the best turnover. According to 2011 data is the eighth in Europe by the number of park visitors. Since October 2006, the park has been owned by the British company Merlin Entertainments. Major attractions at the park include Mammut, Jungle Rapids, Fuga Da Atlantide, Shaman, Blue Tornado, Raptor and Oblivion: The Black Hole which opened on 28 March 2015. The park's mascot, Prezzemolo, was popular in the Italian licensing market du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Life Sydney Aquarium
SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium (formerly Sydney Aquarium) is a public aquarium that features a large variety of Australian aquatic life, displaying more than 700 species comprising more than 13,000 individual fish and other sea and water creatures from most of Australia's water habitats. Opened in 1988, it is regarded as one of Sydney's premier tourist attractions with over 55% of its visitors each year coming from overseas. The aquarium features 14 themed zones including Jurassic Seas, Discovery Rockpool, Shark Walk, and the world's largest Great Barrier Reef display. Along the way, visitors encounter animals unique to each habitat, including one of only four dugongs on display in the world, sharks, stingrays, penguins and tropical fish, among others. It is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern (city) side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge. It is a full institutional member of the Zoo and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Village Roadshow Theme Parks And Attractions
Village Roadshow Theme Parks is a division of Village Roadshow Limited which operates theme parks and attractions in Australia and the United States of America. The Sydney Attractions Group Pty Ltd was formerly part of Village Roadshow Theme Parks; however, it was sold in 2011 to Merlin Entertainments. History In 1989, the publicly listed Sea World Property Trust who owned its namesake theme park coordinated a three-way venture to acquire Wet'n'Wild Water World from the Herringe Group of Companies and build the adjacent Warner Bros. Movie World theme park. The two other companies involved in the venture were American multinational media corporation Time Warner and fellow publicly listed Australian firm Village Roadshow Limited. The joint venture known as Warner Village Theme Parks was led by Chief Executive Officer John Menzies. Prior to the formation of the company, Menzies was Managing Director of Sea World. In 1992, Pivot Leisure sold its two-thirds stake of the Sea Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park and marine zoological park, in Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. When combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks and Resorts Orlando, an entertainment complex consisting of the three parks and many hotels. In 2018, SeaWorld Orlando hosted an estimated 4.594 million guests, ranking it the 10th most visited amusement park in the United States. History SeaWorld Orlando opened on December 15, 1973 as the third of the chain and just 2 years after Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom. This made Central Florida a multi-park vacation destination. SeaWorld was sold in 1976 to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich then to Anheuser-Busch, owners of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Busch Gardens, in 1989. Busch was more experienced with theme parks thus developed SeaWorld in a competitive and aggressive manner, moving the park from a show-based to a ride-based park. The park joined in the Dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Haven, Florida
Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making it the second most populated city in Polk County. It is a principal city of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Pre-history The Timucua and the Calusa were the earliest known inhabitants of the land that would become Winter Haven. Both of these groups were deeply affected by war and disease from the Spanish conquest of Florida in the early 1500s. The Timucua were particularly affected by the expedition of Hernando de Soto. By the 19th century, both these groups no longer existed. During these expeditions the Spanish explorers claimed the entire peninsula of Florida for the Spanish monarchy In the 19th century the Creek and the Seminole were known to live and hunt in this area."The Naming of Lakes in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park,"Cypress Gardens Adventure Park" About.com – Florida Travel. Retrieved 2010-12-18. Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936, as a planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie. Over the years it became one of the biggest attractions in Florida, known for its [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Leslau
Nick Leslau, born , is an English commercial property investor, with an estimated fortune in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List of £200 million. Leslau is Chairman and Chief Executive of Prestbury Investment Holdings Limited, and Chairman of Prestbury Investments LLP. He is a 30 percent shareholder in Prestbury's AIM listed Secure Income REIT, which owns tourist attraction venues such as Thorpe Park, Warwick Castle, and Alton Towers on a long-term lease to Merlin Entertainments. Secure Income REIT also owns 20 private hospitals and 55 Travelodge hotels in the UK. Early life and education The son of a jeweller and part-time art historian, his parents divorced when he was nine. His mother subsequently worked full-time so that Leslau could be educated at a preparatory school in Hampstead, and at Mill Hill School. Leslau left the University of Warwick where he was studying German, to study quantity surveying. Career After meeting Sam Rosen, Leslau joined the ground rent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-and-bailey castle was rebuilt in stone during the 12th century. During the Hundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified, resulting in one of the most recognisable examples of 14th-century military architecture. It was used as a stronghold until the early 17th century, when it was granted to Sir Fulke Greville by James I in 1604. Greville converted it to a country house, and it was owned by the Greville family (who became Earls of Warwick in 1759) until 1978, when it was bought by the Tussauds Group. In 2007, the Tussauds Group was purchased by the Blackstone Group, which merged it with Merlin Entertainments. Warwick Castle was then sold to Nick Leslau's investment firm, Prestbury Group, under a sale and leaseback agreem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park Resort, commonly known as Thorpe Park, is an amusement park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertainments and includes rides, themed cabins, live events and ''Stealth (roller coaster), Stealth'', the United Kingdom's fastest rollercoaster. In 2019 Thorpe park was the UK's third most visited theme park (1.9 million visitors), behind Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor Resort, Legoland Windsor. However, in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the park only had a 125-day operation season, along with limited capacity, leading to massively reduced visitor numbers. Despite this, Thorpe Park was the second most attended theme park in the UK in 2020, behind Alton Towers. After demolition of the Thorpe Park Estate in the 1930s, the site became a gravel pit managed by Ready Mix Concrete (RMC). When the pits were expended, RMC regenerated the site ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, spa, mini golf and hotel complex. Originally a private estate of the Earls of Shrewsbury, Alton Towers' grounds were opened to the public in 1860 to raise funds. In the late 20th century, it was transformed into a theme park and opened a number of new rides from 1980 onwards. In 2019, it was the second most visited theme park in the UK with 2,130,000 visitors which puts it after Legoland Windsor. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alton Towers was only open from July 4th until November with a limited capacity meaning only 670,000 visitors came to the park in 2020. The park has many attractions such as Congo River Rapids, Runaway Mine Train, Nemesis, Oblivion, Galactica, The Smiler, Wicker Man, Rita and TH13TEEN. It operates a total of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dubai International Capital
Dubai International Capital (DIC) is the international investment arm of Dubai Holding, a global conglomerate and sovereign wealth fund of the government of Dubai and its ruling family. DIC invests private funds on behalf of Dubai Holding and several large third-party investors around the world with a mandate to build a portfolio of internationally diversified assets. DIC, which was founded in 2004, invests in stock, public and private equity through three divisions: *Private Equity: Invests in mid-cap companies in Europe and North America with a focus on secondary buy-outs that include Travelodge, Merlin Entertainments, Doncasters, Mauser, Alliance Medical and Almatis. *Emerging Markets: Manages a broad investment program across the Middle East and North Africa region, including LBOs, funds and co-investments, infrastructure, growth and development capital *Public Equities: Focused on investment in Fortune 500 companies through its DFSA regulated US$1.5 billion Global Stra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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