Merlin Entertainment, the Madame Tussauds and amusement parks operator, in which Dubai International Capital once held 28 percent stake, is setting up a Legoland park in Dubai along with other potential sites in Japan and South Korea.
This is part of the company’s plans to expand globally, which will see the setting up Madame Tussauds in San Francisco and Beijing next year.
Dubai had sold its stake in the entertainment company to CVC Capital Partners Ltd., manager of a 10.8 billion-euro ($13.4 billion) leveraged buyout fund in 2010.
Shares in Merlin Entertainments made a debut on London stock market yesterday, valuing the Madame Tussauds and amusement parks operator at around 3.5 billion pounds ($5.6 billion).
The shares opened up 3.2 percent at 325 pence and hit a high of 355p before settling back to change hands for around 342p by 1210 GMT.
The private equity-backed company, the world’s second-largest visitor attractions operator behind Walt Disney Co, had originally set a range of 280p to 330p per share.
Merlin, which closed the offering early due to strong demand, said 87.5 percent of the sale had gone to institutional investors such as pension funds, while individual members of the public had received 12.5 percent of the shares.
