The Other Orlando Blog

I've never taken all the chatter about who'll buy Busch very seriously. For my money, it's all been guesswork based on nothing more than hunches.

But the recent news that Merlin plans an IPO does tend to make you sit up and take notice.

Merlin, whose holdings include Legoland theme parks, Madame Tussauds wax museums and the London Eye, is close to finalizing a plan for an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange, according to a report last weekend in The Independent of London.

The offering is expected to raise more than $3 billion, the newspaper reported. Merlin is owned by a private-equity giant, the Blackstone Group, which also holds a 50 percent stake in Universal Orlando.

The oft cited estimate for how much the Busch theme parks are work is between $3 and $4.5 billion.

Labels: anheuser busch seaworld orlando, inbev, merlin entertainments, universal orlando

More blather about the potential sale and possible pricing for the Busch theme parks, this time from the hoity-toity Financial Times.

Busch Entertainment, the group’s theme park business, which owns SeaWorld Orlando, is expected to be one of the first business units put up for sale with a possible price of up to $4bn.

Potential bidders include Merlin Entertainments, the Blackstone-owned theme park group whose assets include Madame Tussauds and Legoland.

Possible strategic bidders include media group Walt Disney, the world’s biggest operator of theme parks, and Universal Studios, which is majority-owned by the US television and film business, NBC Universal.

Pass the grains of salt, please.

You can make up your own mind, but I can't imagine Disney wanting the parks. As for Universal, I think money would be a major stumbling block. But then, what do I know?

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Labels: blackstone, busch entertainment, Disney, merlin entertainments