Deal or No Deal for Universal and Busch?

Theme parks may be in the business of fun and fantasy, but the reality is that they are businesses--in some cases really big businesses. And it appears business may be picking up at two of the biggest park chains. There's been lots of speculation that Comcast, the cable TV company that everyone loves to hate, may be interested in buying NBC Universal, the parent company of the Universal parks. It's unclear what impact such a merger would have on the parks.

It's no secret that InBev, the company that gobbled up Anheuser-Busch last year, has been looking to sell the non-core Busch Entertainment division of theme parks, which include the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens properties. It's barely a secret that The Blackstone Group has been angling to purchase the parks, and the Orlando Sentinel reports that the deal may be made official tomorrow (Tuesday). A private equity company that has its tentacles in all kinds of businesses, Blackstone owns a major chunk of Merlin Entertainments Group, a UK-based park operator whose portfolio includes the Legoland and Sea Life parks and the London Eye Ferris wheel. If it picks up the Busch parks, Blackstone would emerge as a formidable rival to Disney in Florida. It already owns 50% of Universal Orlando, and Merlin has expressed interest in redeveloping Cypress Gardens as a Legoland park.

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Photo: Is Shamu getting a new boss? SeaWorld Orlando. Used with permission.