Said discussions took place six years ago (then died off), but have now picked up again.
<< "Okay – settle in for a little story. SeaWorld was founded by four entrepreneurs in 1964 who thought a sea-based park would bring a little bit of spice to California and, later, Ohio (right in my backyard!). Shortly thereafter, Disney World opened, and the businessmen saw a huge, still-untapped market in Orlando. The three parks were so successful, they caught the attention of book publisher Harcourt (called Harcourt Brace Jovanovich at the time), which was looking to pursue that elusive financial god called diversification by getting into such myriad industries as insurance and theme parks. It opened yet another location in Texas, and then promptly faced bankruptcy. It sold SeaWorld to beer giant Anheuser-Busch, which was looking to get a little more diversification of its own. It lumped the marine parks in with its Busch Gardens amusement parks and controlled everything through a subsidiary called Busch Entertainment. That was 1989. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch itself got purchased by another brewer, InBev, which wanted to sell off all “diversified” holdings in order to reach profitability as quickly as possible (hey, buying major global corporations is expensive). Possible suitors included none other than NBCUniversal, which would have been more than happy to absorb SeaWorld Orlando into its Universal Orlando Resort (exactly what happened to my beloved SeaWorld Ohio, which became part of Six Flags before ultimately being shuttered for good). Universal never made a bid, however, and InBev ended up selling Shamu and friends to the Blackstone Group, the world’s largest “alternative investment” firm. Three short years later, Blackstone decided that the next step for Busch Entertainment was – what else? – to go public. It did exactly that, being renamed SeaWorld Entertainment in the process and retaining the Blackstone Group as its majority shareholder. This is where things continue to stand today. Except, well, maybe not. Comcast is on the theme park scene now, having purchased NBCUniversal some four years ago – and although it initially wanted nothing to do with the themed industry, a little something called Harry Potter has since opened its mind to the financial possibilities that are just waiting to be had. The company has since famously pledged to invest $500 million a year in its three American theme parks; with Comcast willing to drop that kind of money, and with Blackstone’s singular concern in running the SeaWorld business being pure and simple profit, it seems like the stars just might be aligning for SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa to all join the Universal fold (which isn’t to mention, of course, all of SeaWorld Entertainment’s other parks across the country). The emphasis, of course, has to go on “might”; although we’re hearing from multiple sources from multiple places that the two companies have begun something along the lines of exploratory talks, they could just as easily fizzle out, like they did six years ago. That was before both Comcast and the Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter were around, however, and before Universal thought it was possible to topple Disney from its profitability throne, if not also its attendance throne, as well.
With all of SeaWorld in its clutches, it may very well do that – and soon.">>
Source: Orlando Informer
<< "Okay – settle in for a little story. SeaWorld was founded by four entrepreneurs in 1964 who thought a sea-based park would bring a little bit of spice to California and, later, Ohio (right in my backyard!). Shortly thereafter, Disney World opened, and the businessmen saw a huge, still-untapped market in Orlando. The three parks were so successful, they caught the attention of book publisher Harcourt (called Harcourt Brace Jovanovich at the time), which was looking to pursue that elusive financial god called diversification by getting into such myriad industries as insurance and theme parks. It opened yet another location in Texas, and then promptly faced bankruptcy. It sold SeaWorld to beer giant Anheuser-Busch, which was looking to get a little more diversification of its own. It lumped the marine parks in with its Busch Gardens amusement parks and controlled everything through a subsidiary called Busch Entertainment. That was 1989. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch itself got purchased by another brewer, InBev, which wanted to sell off all “diversified” holdings in order to reach profitability as quickly as possible (hey, buying major global corporations is expensive). Possible suitors included none other than NBCUniversal, which would have been more than happy to absorb SeaWorld Orlando into its Universal Orlando Resort (exactly what happened to my beloved SeaWorld Ohio, which became part of Six Flags before ultimately being shuttered for good). Universal never made a bid, however, and InBev ended up selling Shamu and friends to the Blackstone Group, the world’s largest “alternative investment” firm. Three short years later, Blackstone decided that the next step for Busch Entertainment was – what else? – to go public. It did exactly that, being renamed SeaWorld Entertainment in the process and retaining the Blackstone Group as its majority shareholder. This is where things continue to stand today. Except, well, maybe not. Comcast is on the theme park scene now, having purchased NBCUniversal some four years ago – and although it initially wanted nothing to do with the themed industry, a little something called Harry Potter has since opened its mind to the financial possibilities that are just waiting to be had. The company has since famously pledged to invest $500 million a year in its three American theme parks; with Comcast willing to drop that kind of money, and with Blackstone’s singular concern in running the SeaWorld business being pure and simple profit, it seems like the stars just might be aligning for SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa to all join the Universal fold (which isn’t to mention, of course, all of SeaWorld Entertainment’s other parks across the country). The emphasis, of course, has to go on “might”; although we’re hearing from multiple sources from multiple places that the two companies have begun something along the lines of exploratory talks, they could just as easily fizzle out, like they did six years ago. That was before both Comcast and the Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter were around, however, and before Universal thought it was possible to topple Disney from its profitability throne, if not also its attendance throne, as well.
With all of SeaWorld in its clutches, it may very well do that – and soon.">>
Source: Orlando Informer
