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Merlin Interested in Purchasing Busch Gardens Theme Parks?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Please just no, Williamsburg in particular does not deserve such ownership (they deserve better than SEAS also mind).

:)
 
Rob said:
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Please just no, Williamsburg in particular does not deserve such ownership (they deserve better than SEAS also mind).

:)
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SEAS>>>>>>>>>>>>Merlin though

I just would absolutely hate this to happen! BGW is just getting back on track with Verbolten, Tempesto, InvadR & another major coaster and a whole new area in the works.

“It takes two parties to do a deal so we do not know what SeaWorld’s intentions are but we do believe that those assets [Busch Gardens] are interesting and we could certainly do a lot with them particularly around accommodation, so to us it’s about having the right discussion with a willing partner and making sure we have the right financial return,” Nesmes [of Merlin] said.
 
The quote sounded far less committal vocally than it does when written down. The parks aren't for sale yet, after all.

People forget there was the potential for them to come under the Merlin umbrella when Blackstone bought them. At the time, Varney said "There were discussions, but the truth is there were a whole variety of reasons why that would have been extremely difficult, and not necessarily desirable, to do. I make no secret of the fact I am a big admirer of Busch Gardens in Tampa and Williamsburg, and in another life they would have fitted very nicely into Merlin. The SeaWorld brand too is successful and very well defined."

I don't think it would be as catastrophic as a lot of people think. I would rather Merlin picked them up than more private equity.

Tampa is in turmoil and if Tempesto & Invadr are a sign of the quality of things to come at Williamsburg, then I am not sure I have a lot of faith in the current ownership and management. It's hardly the company that it was 20 years ago.
 
Rick said:
Tampa is in turmoil and if Tempesto & Invadr are a sign of the quality of things to come at Williamsburg, then I am not sure I have a lot of faith in the current ownership and management. It's hardly the company that it was 20 years ago.
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I agree with you here, the Busch parks are not what they once were. InvadR looks like a solid investment for BGW however Tempesto was just bizarre. And I am concered that this new BGW ride, standing at over 300ft, could be a Star Flyer which would not suit the park at all in my opinion.

However do I want Merlin getting their hands on them? Ideally no, especially BGW, because I am not sure how much they would care for the history of the park. I can see them wanting to tear out certain rides that cost more to run, reduce budgets that help keep the park looking as beautiful as it is and so on.

But if SEAS are looking to sell off the Busch parks (and it's not clear that they are yet) you do have to look at the other possible options in terms of an acquisition. I'm not sure they would be overly appealing.

:)
 
I am almost positive it will be a Star Flyer. I think it'd fit in ok. I imagine they would likely go for the retro looking one, like the one at Tivoli. Who knows...

InvadR isn't a bad coaster, but it's got less going on around it than Smiler or Th13teen. It feels more Six Flags than it does Merlin.
 
Apart from having decent shows I thought Busch Gardens did feel a lot like a Merlin park already.

If Sea World are a bit unstable now then Merlin wouldn't be a bad option for them.
 
@RyanY If it went further than just purchasing the Busch parks and included things like SeaWorld too, that would begin to look like a very different deal. The two chains have a similar revenue and employee number. Merlin is slightly larger on both fronts but it does that much business at a massive number of locations, in comparison to SeaWorld P&E.
 
I don't think Merlin would be any worse than seaworld are currently. They also wouldn't be any better either. Merlin would probably invest in new rides better than seaworld have but operating budgets would be cut.
 
If merlin bought any of these parks I could see them investing heavily in accommodation which seems to be a common thing with the uk parks. It would be interesting to see how they would compete in places such as Florida where the Disney and universal resorts are so popular and huge.
 
I really hope that the Busch & SeaWorld parks stick together whatever the future holds. It is perhaps worth noting that usually companies slow ride investment in parks that they are looking to sell off, but the Busch parks have seen an acceleration in investment over recent years with many new projects like Cobra's Curse & Falcon's Fury in Tampa and Tempesto & InvadR in Williamsburg. (Expansion plans have also been recently filed at both parks)

SEAS have their Q2 earnings call tomorrow, we may find out some more info.
 
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I've decided to move this discussion into its own thread as it covers multiple parks is interesting enough to warrant its own discussion.

I can't imagine that Merlin would want to take on the SeaWorld parks as well as the Busch parks. Surely the last thing they want is more parks that attract more than their fair share of negative press?

:)
 
I'd encourage everyone to listen to the call at seaworldentertainment.com, it provides some really great insight if you can put up with the boring bits as well!
 
Benzin said:
Surely given the current issues surrounding the UK parks buying MORE parks is the worst idea?

Oh wait it's Merlin...
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Current issues in terms of the publicity etc? The revenue growth they reported came out of left field for me - I thought they were hurting, evidently not. Granted last year was pretty soft, so growth wasn't impossible for them to achieve.

If you can diversify the geographic spread of the division that can't be a bad thing. If you can add a year round park and a park that does a 10 month season, that would be an interesting change to the way the division operates and reports.

It all comes down to if they can get them for a price that makes sense versus what they think they can do with them in terms of visitation and financials. What I don't think they will do (thank goodness) is buy them at a price that doesn't make sense and suffer the consequences (like Six Flags did with <pick one of 10 parks> and Cedar Fair did with the Paramount chain.

If they're still aiming for a three way split in terms of revenue (USA / Europe / Asia Pacific) - I am not sure they'll do that with Midway/Legoland alone - but maybe they will.
 
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Outside of the Legoland brand, a lot of Merlins theme parks are in decline. They're not great operators when it comes to the core of theme parks.

Saying that, I actually think BG parks would be a good buy for Merlin. If they carry on like they are, they'll continue to try keeping up with the Jone's making high budget investments in a desperate bid for returns on that until the cash runs out and private equity cowboys swoop in.

Merlin would likely invest heavy in accommodation and strip out entertainment and supporting attractions in search of healthy returns. This doesn't sound great, but at least it would be more sustainable.
 
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