Busch Entertainment Officially Sold to Blackstone

^That's all pretty standard with call centers now though. They're really expensive to operate and companies can save massive amounts of money by off shoring them.

I just hope they don't have the same attitude toward BG.

^Kind of difficult to off shore most theme park jobs. Ultimately you can only cut staffing and compensation so much before you start to have serious problems. It sounds like InBev has already done some of the dirty work.

^And that's why finance is a giant black box to me. Private equity firm with an IPO? Me no understand.

"Private equity" gets its name from the fact that one of the most common things these firms do is buy up all the stock in pubically traded companies and take them private.

^And that's why finance is a giant black box to me. Private equity firm with an IPO? Me no understand.

 

"Private equity" gets its name from the fact that one of the most common things these firms do is buy up all the stock in pubically traded companies and take them private.

Right, but if you're a publicly-traded company yourself, like Blackstone (NYSE:BX), how do their acquisitions become private equity?

Just a historical name that they didn't change after the IPO?

Blackstone is very much about cutting costs and the bottom line, they just took over a chunk of hilton and sent quite a few call center jobs overseas. When I saw they were buying BG it made more sense that BBW is coming down.

What? Blackstone had nothing to do with BBW coming down. That was decided long before they purchased the parks.

^^I should have been more specific about the IPO: Blackstone only offered a 10% share of the company in it's IPO. And the shares don't have voting rights, so for most intents-and-purposes, they are still a private equity firm.

Blackstone is very much about cutting costs and the bottom line, they just took over a chunk of hilton and sent quite a few call center jobs overseas. When I saw they were buying BG it made more sense that BBW is coming down.

 

What? Blackstone had nothing to do with BBW coming down. That was decided long before they purchased the parks.

Agreed. And do you have any idea how much it costs to actually demo a ride? It's NOT cheap! If what you are saying I felt actually had an ounce of truth then it would make more sense to keep the ride and not replace it with anything.

It's going to cost a lot of take the ride down, clear the area, and then re-build something new.

--Robb

Agreed. And do you have any idea how much it costs to actually demo a ride? It's NOT cheap! If what you are saying I felt actually had an ounce of truth then it would make more sense to keep the ride and not replace it with anything.

 

It's going to cost a lot of take the ride down, clear the area, and then re-build something new.

 

--Robb

I didn't mean to say anything "untruthful", I just thought that if they're taking down a 25 year old ride, it's to save money, even if it's in the long run. I don't think they would tear down an old ride, and build a new one if it was going to make less money then the original ride.

Getting back to what I was saying before, Blackstone is known for cutting costs. A friend of mine was working for a company for five years, then about a year ago when BS took them over the culture at the company totally changed.

Blackstone is known for cutting costs. A friend of mine was working for a company for five years, then about a year ago when BS took them over the culture at the company totally changed.

But this is pretty much true for when ANY company buys ANY other company.

I don't think I have ever, EVER seen a situation where company A buys company B and doesn't 1. try to do things slightly leaner, and 2. it doesn't change the culture somewhat.

It's just the nature of what happens when businesses sell to other businesses.

Again, I'll re-iterate what has been said before in this thread.

THIS IS A VERY GOOD THING FOR THE BUSCH PARKS!

I really see any cons as "nit picks" and the pros absolutely outweigh them.

--Robb

 

THIS IS A VERY GOOD THING FOR THE BUSCH PARKS!

 

I hope you're right, I love going to BGW!

^^I should have been more specific about the IPO: Blackstone only offered a 10% share of the company in it's IPO. And the shares don't have voting rights, so for most intents-and-purposes, they are still a private equity firm.

Ah, OK. That makes more sense to my business dumb brain.

We were told that the Clydesdale will leave the parks sometime soon.... And the names will remain. All other Busch merchandise have been sold off.

I hope that BGA gets a dark ride connecting to Egypt if they take away the Clydesdale

At the moment I see this as a positive for the Busch Parks. Having a foundation with an ownership group clearly interested in Theme Parks is much better than the Inbev situation over the last year or so, and hopefully they will continue to be successful.

This has got to be a little awkward for Universal. They're now 50/50 partners with a company who operates a competitor. Of course, there are those rumors that Blackstone intends to sever ties with UO...

^As has been said before in this thread, it seems to make a lot more sense to bundle the AB and Universal parks under one umbrella. Multi-day tickets combined with a decent transport system from UO to Seaworld, BGT could really add up to a nice arrangement.

Right now Universal just doesn't have that total vacation package like Disney has. This puts them one step closer. It'll never be as cool as having it all on one giant piece of property like WDW, but they can still come up with something very nice.

And, like Elissa said earlier, if they could throw a Legoland into the mix, they could really go after Disney's lunch: the younger audience.

Let's hope they leverage this new situation for all it's worth.

We chatted with a few former BEC executives about what the sale might mean for the parks...

http://www.blooloop.com/blog/posts/Theme-Parks--Weighing-in-on-Blackstone-s-purchase-of-the-Busch-parks/142

^I've merged your topic concerning the Blackstone purchase here. Please keep all the discussion of this topic in one place.

Thank you,

Chuck

We were told that the Clydesdale will leave the parks sometime soon.... And the names will remain. All other Busch merchandise have been sold off.

 

I hope that BGA gets a dark ride connecting to Egypt if they take away the Clydesdale

Revenge of the mummy...part 2

All of this development is getting more and more interesting and I can't wait to see what these guys do to develop the parks. i just hope that they don't change the names of any of the rides, that would make the general public even more confused.

My 2 cents.

It was a little strange having free beer samples at a family amusement park owned by a beer company. I understand having beer for sale at a few locations, but the beer focus was just wrong.

This sums up my feelings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3TKt0Q1-5Y

^Or maybe they just focused on the wrong beer. Trappist Westvleteren Gardens. That's more like it.

This press release arrived today:

BUSCH ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION CHANGES NAME TO “SEAWORLD PARKS & ENTERTAINMENT”

Orlando, Fla. (December 1, 2009) – With the sale of Busch Entertainment Corp. to Blackstone Capital Partners V L.P., an investor fund advised by The Blackstone Group, comes a new name for the company that operates some of the nation’s best known and popular theme parks.

“SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment” replaces “Busch Entertainment Corporation” with the closing of the sale announced jointly today by Anheuser-Busch InBev and The Blackstone Group.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment operates 10 parks across the U.S.: SeaWorlds in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio; Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla. and Williamsburg, Va.; Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando; Sesame Place near Philadelphia, Pa.; and water parks Adventure Island in Tampa and Water Country USA in Williamsburg.

The new name reflects the prominence of the SeaWorld brand in both the family travel industry and among the company’s portfolio of parks.

“It is one of the world’s most widely recognized and respected family travel brands,” said Jim Atchison, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment President. “SeaWorld has been a brand associated with quality family entertainment since SeaWorld San Diego opened its gates for the first time in March 1964.”

Despite the new name, little else about the company changes with today’s acquisition by Blackstone, Atchison said. The leadership team, park portfolio, operating philosophy, commitment to quality and workforce is unchanged: “While this is the start of an exciting new phase in our evolution, we remain dedicated to the same values and principles that have been the foundation of our success for five decades.”

Will be interesting to see how this new management plays out, particularly with proposed expansion plans or BGE. Mainly, I'm just glad to see a buyer that will keep the parks running. That's important.

Dumb name. Would prefer them to continue using the Busch Entertainment name like they said they would, or at least should have gone with the Worlds of Discovery branding.