Alton Towers and Legoland chief to leave after two years

The boss of Merlin Entertainments, the theme park giant which owns Legoland and Alton Towers, is to step down after just two years in the job.

Sky News has learnt that Scott O'Neil, a former boss of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team, is to leave Merlin at the end of the year to take an undisclosed role elsewhere.

Sources said an announcement was likely to be made later on Wednesday.

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Fiona Eastwood will be appointed as interim CEO while a permanent successor is identified, insiders said.

Mr O'Neil replaced the Merlin veteran Nick Varney in late 2022, putting him in charge of one of the world's biggest operators of theme parks and visitor attractions.

The company also counts Chessington World of Adventures, the London Eye and Thorpe Park among its other prime assets in the UK.

In total, it operates 140 attractions globally, and boasts more than 60m visitors annually.

Last week, Merlin unveiled plans to open a series of Minecraft-themed parks in conjunction with the owners of the globally successful video game.

It also plans to open a Legoland in Shanghai next year, which will be its first in China and the biggest in the world.

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Merlin is owned by Blackstone and a vehicle owned by the family behind the Lego empire and Canada's largest pension fund.

Last year, it saw record group revenues, up 8% to £2.1bn, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £662m.

Merlin declined to comment.