Busch Sells Shamu

The St. Louis Business Journal reports: Anheuser-Busch InBev said Wednesday that it plans to sell its 10 amusement parks to The Blackstone Group, the world’s largest private-equity firm, for up to $2.7 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, Blackstone will acquire Anheuser-Busch InBev's subsidiary, Busch Entertainment Corp., the second-largest entertainment park operator in the United States with 25 million annual visitors. Wednesday's announcement caps weeks of speculation about Blackstone buying the brewer's theme parks.

The purchase price includes a cash payment of $2.3 billion at closing and a right to participate in Blackstone’s return on its initial investment capped at $400 million, A-B InBev said.

Busch Entertainment operates 10 entertainment parks, including three SeaWorld parks in Orlando, Fla.; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, Calif.; and two Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has been looking to sell its theme parks to help pay down the $45 billion debt it took on when it bought St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion last year.

On Wednesday, A-B InBev Chief Executive Carlos Brito said Busch Entertainment was a "high-performing asset with a world-class management team, but not a core business for Anheuser-Busch InBev."

"The sale of BEC represents another important milestone in our commitment to de-leverage the company and will also allow us to continue to focus on our core brewing business," Brito said in a statement.

New York-based Blackstone controls Merlin Entertainment Group, which has stakes in Legoland and Six Flags, and co-owns Universal Orlando with NBC Universal, a unit of Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co.