Merlin Entertainments, which runs Madame Tussauds and Legoland, has been in the market spotlight after an activist investor that secured a boardroom seat at Rolls-Royce two years ago declared a 5.4% stake.
Shares in Merlin rose by almost 4% after Value Act Capital, a hedge fund in San Francisco, said that it had built a stake worth about £180 million.
Merlin has about 120 attractions, 15 hotels and six holiday villages in 25 countries across four continents and it employs about 29,000 people in the summer season. Its brands include Sea Life and the Dungeons and it runs Alton Towers and Gardaland, in Italy.
