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Firm May Want To Buy Busch Parks

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By RICHARD MULLINS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 5, 2008

TAMPA - Over the weekend, a British newspaper gave another stir to the pot of rumors surrounding the fate of Busch Gardens when its parent company, Anheuser-Busch Cos., is sold to Belgian-owned brewing giant InBev.

In the latest twist, the British paper Telegraph said the U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group was positioning itself to buy the theme park division of Anheuser, pairing it up with other entertainment parks Blackstone owns in Europe.

The paper did not name its sources. Talk of deals such as those have been circulating since Belgian brewer InBev announced an agreement with Anheuser-Busch's board to acquire the St. Louis-based brewer in a $52 billion deal.

InBev would pay for that deal partly through "divestitures of non-core assets," which could include Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island, as well as SeaWorld Florida and Aquatica. If sold, Lehman Bros. said the parks could be worth $2.58 billion.

Busch Gardens also owns and operates six other theme parks nationwide and last year launched a partnership to develop and operate four amusement parks in Dubai under one umbrella, Worlds of Discovery.

Blackstone officials declined to comment Monday on news about InBev, while also noting the company owns stakes in several parks - Merlin Entertainments Group, Europe's largest operator of attractions, including Legoland, Madame Tussauds and the London Dungeons.

Blackstone at one point invested $760 million in the Six Flags Theme Parks, but has since sold that stake. It is a "corporate partner" in NBC-Universal, which operates Universal Studios properties in Florida such as Islands of Adventure roller coaster park and the CityWalk entertainment complex.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at rmullins@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7919.

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