Legoland Parent To Buy Seaworld?

According to a report on Theme Park Insider it appears that the Blackstone Group (owners of Merlin Entertainment which in turn owns Legoland) may be in the process of purchasing SeaWorld, bringing two of San Diego’s major tourist attractions under one roof.

The complete list of properties of Busch Entertainment Group are Busch Gardens-Tampa Bay, Busch Gardens-Willamsburg, SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Antonio, SeaWorld San Diego, Discovery Cove, Aquatica, Adventure Island, Water Country USA and Sesame Place. . . Blackstone already owns a 50-percent stake in the Universal theme parks and also has ties to Hilton Hotels Corp. The company is headquartered in New York City.

According to a story on WESH.com no announcement of the sale has been made. KSAT.com, however, is reporting rumors from an inside source at Blackstone:

Blackstone has purchased either 50 percent or 51 percent of SeaWorld, according to the rumor. The Blackstone employee also said two conference rooms have been set aside at SeaWorld Orlando on Wednesday to share the news of new ownership with employees. . . Projections about the sale price are hovering around $1 billion recently. A London paper reported that one of Blackstone’s holdings, “Merlin Entertainment Group,” which holds Madame Tussauds, was about to go public.

Still no official word. We’ll keep you posted.

[Link: WESH.com and Theme Park insider]