Other LEGO branded entities

For Merlin Entertainments – the operator of the LEGOLAND Parks and LEGOLAND Discovery Centres – business activities continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with many of its over 130 attractions being closed for a part of the year or limited in number of visitors due to restrictions around travel, social distancing, etc.

With 35.2 million visitors in 2021 compared with 22.1 million in 2020, Merlin Entertainments managed to more than double its revenue in 2021, and through a number of cost reduction initiatives the KIRKBI share of the negative result was reduced to a loss of DKK 588 million in 2021 compared to DKK 2,031 million in 2020.

Merlin Entertainments continued its pilot projects, partnerships and investments to enable a unified and positive LEGO brand experience across the LEGOLAND Parks and other LEGO play experiences.

In July 2021, LEGOLAND New York opened, while the construction of LEGOLAND Korea, LEGOLAND Shenzhen, LEGOLAND Sichuan and LEGOLAND Shanghai continued. LEGOLAND Korea is expected to open in the spring of 2022.

LEGO Education saw positive development, especially in the US supported by the significant education package passed by government. Overall, 2021 saw big changes to the education environment globally, and LEGO Education will continue to assess how to manage this going forward.

Highlights of the year were, amongst others, the launch of LEGO BricQ Motion – an exploration of physical science within a sports context – and LEGO SPIKE Essential – a new brick-based STEMoriented education set.

LEGO Ventures’ mission is to explore opportunities in play, learning and creativity beyond the brick, in support of the LEGO brand vision. In 2021, the strategic focus was narrowed down to two main areas: ‘Digital Play’ and ‘Learning/Education’. Within these two areas, the aim is to build substantial footholds that can become essential parts of the LEGO® brand over time.

In 2021, LEGO Ventures completed two new investments within Digital Play; the social gaming platform Piepacker (12 % ownership) and gamemodifying platform mod.io. (3 % ownership) Additionally within education/learning, LEGO Ventures invested in Area9 (2 % ownership), which focuses on personalised adaptive learning.

KIRKBI, through its subsidiary LEGO Juris A/S, owns the LEGO trademarks and LEGOLAND trademarks, which are licensed to the LEGO Group and Merlin Entertainments, respectively. In 2021, investments in strengthening of the LEGO® brand continued with a contribution of DKK 300 million to the global brand campaign “Rebuild the World”. The LEGO Foundation* aims to build a future in which Learning-throughPlay empowers children to become creative, engaged and lifelong learners. Over the past five years, the activity level in the LEGO Foundation has increased significantly. In 2021, the LEGO Foundation went beyond any previous activity levels with total grants of DKK 2.8 billion for programmes, research and advocacy to promote the power of Learning-through-Play, including a USD 150 million donation to UNICEF and other partners to support children and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccines and emergency relief. During the year, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen took over the role as CEO of the LEGO Foundation from John Goodwin.

LEGO House* was closed due to COVID-19 during the first four months of 2021. However, many both Danish and international guests enjoyed the unique brand experience through the year and LEGO House continued to strengthen its position as a LEGO Brand lighthouse with high guest satisfaction and positive impact on the LEGO® brand.