LONDON (Reuters) - The board of fashion retailer New Look were to meet on Friday 12 February to decide whether to proceed with its planned initial public offering (IPO), a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday 11 February.

Photo: www.newlook.co.uk

The meeting comes after a series of IPOs have been cancelled due to unfavourable market conditions.

New Look declined to comment.

Earlier on Thursday 11 February, theme park operator Merlin Entertainments said it had no near-term plans to float, dampening expectations for an IPO which a source close the matter had said could come this year.

On Wednesday 10 February, travel services group Travelport -- which like Merlin is backed by private equity firm Blackstone -- called off plans for a $1.8 billion (1.15 billion pound) listing, despite slashing the price range for shares by a quarter.

That followed a string of other scrapped IPOs involving Belgian, British and German companies.

New Look, owned by private equity firms Permira PERM.UL and Apax APAX.UL as well as founder Tom Singh and management, said earlier this month it hoped to raise 650 million pounds ($1 billion) in an IPO to cut its debt.

(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Gary Hill)