Falls Creek, Australia – The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Europe’s Merlin Entertainments Group has initiated a AUD$140 million cash takeover bid for Australia’s Hotham and Falls Creek ski resorts.

The resorts’ current owner, Living and Leisure Australia Group (LLA), has recommended that shareholders accept the offer, which represents a 157 percent premium over the share closing price immediately before the bid was initiated. The company’s three largest security holders, who own nearly 88 percent of the company’s securities, reportedly support the plan.

LLA also operates the Melbourne Aquarium and Underwater World in Queensland.  Merlin Entertainments Group is a leisure attractions market leader in the UK and Europe and second only to Disney worldwide, according to the company, and owns 77 sites in 17 countries across four continents, including Sydney Aquarium, Oceanworld Manly and Sydney Tower Eye and Skywalk in Australia.