Following its high-profile flotation last November, attractions giant Merlin Entertainments has won ‘New Company of The Year 2013’ at the London Stock Exchange PLC Awards.

Described as the ‘City event of the year’, the evening was attended by over 1,500 senior executives from the financial community including investment banks, fund managers, investment analysts and other quoted companies.

Merlin chief development officer Mark Fisher accepted the prize, which was decided by a judging panel comprised of 22 executives from leading City firms such as Schroders, Legal and General plus Zeus Capital.

The ‘New Company’ gong is awarded to a company which has gone public in 2013 and which the judges deem to have the potential, but too short a track record, to be considered for the top award – ‘Company of the Year’.

After 14 years as a private equity-owned company the firm took the decision to go public as it sought to focus on long-term ownership and investment in its brands – which include LEGOLAND, Tussauds Group and SEA LIFE Centre.

The company’s shares were nine times oversubscribed at the price they floated at and their value quickly grew by 10 per cent.

Speaking exclusively in the latest edition of Attractions Management, Merlin chief executive Nick Varney said the move had been described as a “textbook” IPO, putting the company on track for its ambition of market domination.

“The leisure industry has long suffered from a perception of being a Cinderella industry, and it’s been massively undervalued as a key contributor to the economy – so I hope Merlin can become something of a sector champion,” he said. “Standing on the balcony of the London Stock Exchange with the clock counting down was a very emotional moment.

“I always believed it was our destiny to become a public company. We’ve never made a secret of the fact that we wanted to be market leader.”