IN just four years, the operator of some of Europe’s leading attractions, including Legoland and Madame Tussauds, has become the world’s second-biggest player in the sector – only Walt Disney is larger. It has also become a millionaire factory.

Figures revealed by The Sunday Times this weekend show the company generated operating profits of about £200m for the year to December 2008, a 20% rise on the previous year, on sales of more than £660m.

The results put the company on course for a flotation when the markets recover, a move that could value the group at almost £1 billion and provide a paper fortune for 200 senior staff who have shares in the business. It is estimated that 30 to 50 of them could become millionaires.

Nick Varney, Merlin’s chief executive, said: “When the market improves we will be looking with keen interest at whether [a float] is an option for us.”

He said the fact that so many managers owned stock in the company reflected a culture where “people feel real ownership of the business”.

A float would also provide a lucrative exit for Blackstone, the American buyout firm that is Merlin’s biggest shareholder.

It bought the business for about £100m in 2005 and has financed its expansion, backing the acquisitions of Legoland, Tussauds Group and Gardaland in Italy.

The flotation prospects will be aided by continued strong trading at the company. “We are coming out of the Easter break with most of our attractions between 5% and 10% up on last year,” said Varney, who conceded poor weather in 2008 made year-on-year comparisons easier.

He said recent launches, such as the Saw ride at Thorpe Park, had gone down well with customers, as had a heavily promoted annual pass.

Merlin continues to eye potential acquisitions, though an estimated $3 billion (£2 billion) deal to buy Busch Resorts was “sitting in the long grass”, said Varney, as bidders could not agree a valuation with Busch’s owner, the brewing giant Anheuser Busch Inbev.

North America remains the most fertile hunting ground for acquisitions, though the group is also opening American attractions, including a Madame Tussauds in Hollywood.

Andrew Carr, the finance director, said he was “very comfortable” with the level of Merlin’s debt, which stands at about £1 billion, and said there was no need to refinance.

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