New owner for Alton Towers

The Tussauds Group, the owner of the eponymous waxworks museums and enormous London Eye Ferris wheel, has been bought in a £1 billion ($1.9 billion) deal by Merlin Entertainments, which is majority-owned by the Blackstone Group.

Dubai International Capital, which controls Tussauds, will retain a 20% stake in the combined entity, which will be the world's second-largest visitor attractions company after Walt Disney. Merlin already owns the London Dungeon and Legoland theme parks.

The Tussauds Group is best known for operating the Madame Tussauds wax museum located on Marylebone Road alongside the London Planetarium, featuring lifesize effigies of well-known figures ranging from Tony Blair to Paris Hilton. The museum famously melts down waxworks when the public tires of certain celebrities. Madame Tussauds also has attractions in New York, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, and Hong Kong.

Tussauds bought the British Airways London Eye, the world's tallest observation wheel, in February 2006. The airline was allowed to continue its brand association with the debt-laden attraction, which offers tourists a bird's-eye view of the U.K. capital from snail's paced viewing pods.

Tussauds also owns three famous theme parks in Britain: Alton Towers in Staffordshire and Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park, both in the county of Surrey.

Chris Sabian, Peak District View - 2007-03-11 02:35:54