Merlin, which owns Alton Towers and is the second-largest theme park group in the world, told the stock market that it was under pressure to seek a buyer JOE GIDDENS / PAThe theme park operator behind the London Eye and Madame Tussauds has become the latest company to come under pressure from activist investors after its second-largest owner called on it to seek out a buyer to take it private. The FTSE 250 group, which has a market value of more than £3.4 billion, confirmed to the stock market today that it had received the demand from Valueact Capital, a US-based activist known for its turnaround campaign at the engineer Rolls-Royce. Valueact has a 9.3 per cent stake in Merlin, behind Kirbi, the investment vehicle controlled by the Kirk Kristiansen family, which owns the toymaker Lego. It said in an open letter to Merlin that it could be worth roughly £4.50 a share to a buyer…

Source: The Times May 23, 2019 08:03 UTC