Owners of Legoland buy Cypress Gardens

The company behind Legoland in California and other parks in Europe has purchased the struggling Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven.

A spokeswoman for U.K.-based Merlin Entertainments Group said the company bought Cypress Gardens, its Splash Island water park and the botanical gardens for an undisclosed sum. Julie Estrada, Merlin's U.S. spokeswoman, wouldn't give any further details, but said it would reveal its plans for the property at a Thursday press conference.

Merlin operates 59 attractions, six hotels and two holiday villages, according to a company statement. Its holdings include Legoland, a theme park based on the children's toys, which has locations in Carlsbad, Calif., the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark. It also operates other attractions including the Madame Tussauds wax museums and a chain of aquariums called Sea Life.

Merlin bought Cypress Gardens from Mulberry-based Land South Adventures earlier this month, according to Polk County public records. While Merlin wouldn't reveal its purchase price, it appeared from land records that Merlin paid $22.3 million for the park. That is based on the amount of documentary stamp taxes that Merlin paid on the property, said Mike Hartnett, real estate director for the Polk County Property Appraiser's Office.

If that is correct, Land South appears to have turned a profit on the real estate and related amusement park equipment in two years. Land South bought Cypress Gardens from its previous owner for $16.8 million in 2007. Still, its apparent profit does not factor in any losses the company may have sustained in operating the amusement park.

Brian Philpot and Rob Harper, partners at Land South, declined comment Friday. They shut down Cypress Gardens in September, saying at the time that the park was not economically viable.

Merlin appears to be limited in what it can do at Cypress Gardens. A conservation easement on the property requires that the roughly 30-acre historic gardens be left alone. The adjacent 120 acres is intended to be used as a theme park, according to documents from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The Blackstone Group, a large private equity investment firm, has owned Merlin Entertainments since 2005. Last year, Blackstone also bought Busch Entertainment Corp., which owns the Busch Gardens and SeaWorld parks.