To finance its $52 billion cash deal for Anheuser-Busch Cos., InBev SA is likely to put
a "for sale" sign on A-B's famed Busch Entertainment Corp., which runs 10 theme parks across the U.S. The $45 billion
loan package InBev put together contains a one-year bridge loan of $7 billion, to be paid off through asset sales. Theme parks and A-B's packaging business (thought to be worth maybe $1.7 billion) are the most obvious candidates for a sale.
Of the two, the theme parks are obviously more fun to speculate about. Analysts have suggested that the most likely buyer would be a private equity firm such as Blackstone Group LP's Merlin Entertainments Group, and that the unit could fetch around $2.9 billion.
But there's a lot else going on in the world of theme parks, especially if you consider the
view from Dubai. Busch is planning to build a quartet of parks on an orca-shaped island there, and
debt-laden theme park chain Six Flags Inc. (controlled by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder) has a partnership with Dubai Holding LLC.
Dubai is serious about fun, planning to
invest almost $350 billion on leisure projects over the next 12 years, according to the Gulf Times. Dubailand -- as its collection of Western theme parks will be known -- is going to be twice the size of Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla. Plus you'll be able to ski there.
Outside the U.S. is where the theme parks are looking for growth. Universal Studios is also trying to
boost international sales; it's due to open Resorts World at Sentosa in Singapore in 2010 and just awarded a Chinese conglomerate a 705 million Singapore dollar ($523 million) contract to construct it at the S$6 billion integrated resort project.
PricewaterhouseCoopers put together a
global entertainment and media outlook for 2008 to 2012. According to PwC, People's Republic of China and India are emerging as major theme park locations in Asia-Pacific. -
Baz Hiralal InBev May Raise $4.6 Billion Selling Anheuser UnitsFor good measure:
Top 10 amusement parks outside Orlando in the U.S.
Join Corporate Dealmaker's LinkedIn forum
Juergen Lasowski
And the winners are...
Blackstone is blocked from buying any theme park company that operates in Florida per their agreement with Universal Studios, and that includes Merlin.