Rumor Possible SeaWorld Entertainment and Parques Reunidos Merger

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Shane

Shane

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This kind of rumor seems to pop-up almost every year or two since Anheuser-Busch InBev spun-off Busch Entertainment Company into SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment ten years ago. (Can you believe it has been that long already?) There have been stories of how the parks could be sold off piece-meal with CedarFair taking Busch Gardens Tampa, and Disney buying Busch Gardens Williamsburg; there have also been multiple rumors of Merlin acquiring SEAS over the years and even a rumor of Parques Reunidos buying the parks at one point.

You may or may not remember a story around this time in 2017 where it was reported that SEAS had hired Evercore, a company that specializes in IPOs, acquisitions/sales/mergers, and corporate restructuring, though from the outside it appears that nothing came of that just like the other rumors over the last decade.

Well, there is another rumor that surfaced towards the end of July of this year that says there are talks for SEAS and Parques Reunidos to merge taking both companies private and out of the spotlight for scrutiny of investors that they have been in for the last seven years. You can read the story at Themed Reality here.

In case you aren't knowledgeable about Parques Reunidos they own several parks and operate others under contract all over the world either directly or through subsidiaries like Palace Entertainment.

Excluding a dizzying number of water parks, family entertainment centers, and marine mammal parks, their amusement park properties include:
A merger with SEAS would great a giant of an entertainment company with a wide array if intellectual property.

I'm not going to hold my breath as we have seen time and again where these rumors have gone before, but it is worth discussing every couple of years given the instability of SeaWorld's stock.
 
The bigger the company, the tighter BGW's budget, and frankly that's all I care about. I wish BGW and BGT could split off from SEAS personally, or at least be treated as separate entities instead of having each park rely on the others.
 
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I hate any possibilities that split up the parks and ruin my platinum pass. Personally I'd prefer SEAS stay separate, unless they merged but kept separate business units.
 
Let's see last year Six Flags was going to buy Sea. Two years ago Merlin was going to buy Sea. The year before it was the one stated in the article. I going to start a pool on who the rumor will involve next year. Disney maybe?

In other words I will take this seriously when there some actual evidence to back it up.
 
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If it wasn't for my fear of what the prices would shoot up to I'd almost welcome Disney. Of all the buyers they scare me least in some ways. At least quality would stay a priority.
 
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You can get drinks at the DreamMore resort at Dollywood. So there is at least some small scale acquiescence to the realities of the secular marketplace.

Now, would they let that mote of flexibility expand to an entire theme park literally named after beer? Maaaaaybe not.

But I still believe the day will come when (e.g.) Chik-fil-A will be open on Sundays, and stop supporting crappy awful politics with their money. The rigors of behavioral doctrine have a way of fading with time in many cases. So hope springs eternal...
 
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If we’re talking “dream” owners/partners for BGW/BGT; I nominate Hershey Entertainment. They aren’t afraid to invest, innovate, and preserve.
 
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Though this comes up nearly annually, and the company that is going to merge with SEAS changes every time, let's not devolve this into a wishlist of who you would like to purchase SEAS but the topic of of Parques Reunidos (or United Parks in English) and SEAS.

I think this particular rumor has some legs, unlike all the previous ones. The two companies both already have Marine Mammal attractions which Merlin has made clear it is not interested in operating. I believe the marine mammals were one of the main reasons previous Merlin-SEAS merger rumors amounted to nothing. Reunidos operates 10 facilities that specialize in Aquatic, Marine, and/or Zoological attractions they also have minimal market overlap with SEAS.
 
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The thing that “scares” me the most about Parques Reunidos is the fact that they are mostly “smaller” parks (certainly smaller than the BG’s and SWO). Also their projects in NA parks lately have had some major delays or issues when opening.
 
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