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Merlin flotation

Alastair said:
In addition, the group revenue has increased by just over 11% in the same period. On the contrary, they refer to The Smiler as a "successful investment" - proof that they only care about revenue and not about actual reliability/operation!
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Right now, I loathe Merlin. Their service this year has been diabolical. IN fact, I would say one of the worst seasons I have known for it. However, that is a financial document - and measured in that regard, the Smiler is a resounding success. Also, technical issues to one side, which I don't believe can be attributed to Towers as a whole, the ride is a success with the GP - and a fair few enthusiasts too.
 
DOUBLE POST:

I have just realised something, what they mean by "flotation", is they are retrofitting Towers with a large dinghy to combat recent flooding.

Panic over.
 
Shares are now available to buy if you have a spare £1000+ and want to try something a little more risky than a ISA.

Deadline is 8th November, although it can close early.

Ian
 
and now the question, how will this effect the parks?

On one hand the Alton Towers golden years where when Tussauds Group was part of a public company and it's fall happened when Tussauds was privately owned.

On the other hand Busch have become part of a public company and are cutting costs all over the shop.

Watch this space i suppose.
 
A not so positive look on the investment potential of buying shares in Merlin can be found here.

Who knows how it's going to affect the parks. All I know is that things are going rather rapidly downhill at BGW which is a shame, although part of that is down to the current management structure.

:)
 
Rob said:
:)
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Great find Rob, just the sort of article I was looking for. Its certainly going to be interesting to see how it goes, and I look forward to seeing the TowerStreet Stock Tracker Widget when Merlin shares finally go on sale :)

Ian
 
Doesn't fill me with much confidence for the future of Alton Towers based on that article. Ironic really that a lot of the issues that article mentions have been brought up on forums again and again.

Get the feeling we may be getting a Busch style future.
 
That article is very interesting, and highlights a lot of things I look at in work. Merlin are what we call a 'zombie' business, literally the dead walking. Private Equity partners load it up with debt to the point that they are not profitable as they are repaying the debt back, and this is often 'rolled up' where the debt remains on the books and is not paid back by cash. The fact that they are now floating to generate immediate cash for shares is not a good sign and will not fit well with the PE model. Disposal of loss making entities will be next on the cards to please shareholders
 
With any luck they will sell of the resort theme parks, hopefully not to another investment bank.
 
If anyone is still thinking about buying some, the deadline has been brought forward to 5pm on the 7th.

I am assuming this is an attempt to encourage people who were thinking about it to commit, or it could just be that they are selling quicker than they expected.

Ian
 
The Captial Equity firms are going to be very happy if this paragraph is accurate

"The offering raised total gross proceeds of £957m for the company and its selling shareholders. The net proceeds for the company totalled £165m, which will go towards reducing debt."

Its a shame most staff did not benefit from this, so its not really surprising some of the poor customer service received this weekend.

Ian
 
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