Merlin is the theme park company that operates Legoland and the SeaLife Aquariums, and is 70% owned by Blackstone Group, the reported suitor of the Busch Entertainment Corp. theme parks.
Merlin's policy seems at odds with current SeaWorld operations, including the use of marine mammals in shows.
Would this conflict prevent Blackstone from using Merlin as the investment vehicle to acquire BEC? If so, that would mean the loss of some interesting synergies, such as between SeaWorld and Legoland in San Diego County, as well as a potential marriage between Lego and Sesame Street in the Merlin and BEC parks.
Even an independent investment by Blackstone in BEC could prove troublesome, if there is significant support within Blackstone's management for Merlin's way of handling marine mammals. SeaWorld without Shamu would be a very different company than what today's consumers expect.
Update: The comments keep getting better. Now, we've got word of a non-compete clause that Blackstone and Universal signed, which would keep Blackstone from buying or investing in any other theme parks in the state of Florida (e.g. SeaWorld and Busch Gardens), without Universal's blessing.
"Blessing" usually being a way of saying "getting money" in business.
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oooooh no. School ended for me, I don't want to go back!! Yuk, lol!
Here's the language from the S-4
During the term of the Partnership none of the Partners nor any of their affiliates (while such Partner or any
affiliate shall be a Partner) shall, without the consent of the other Partners engage, directly or indirectly, in a Similar
Theme Park within the State of Florida. During the term of the Partnership, none of the Blackstone Partners nor any of
their respective affiliates (while any of the Blackstone Partners or any of their respective affiliates shall be a Partner) shall
without the consent of UniCo engage, directly or indirectly, in a Similar Theme Park anywhere else in the world. None of
the Blackstone Partners nor UniCo nor any of their respective affiliates shall be restricted in the ownership or, operation of
facilities similar to the Studio anywhere in the world. UniCo and its affiliates shall be free to engage in Similar Theme
Parks anywhere in the world outside the State of Florida. The provisions of this Subsection 31(b) are subject to the
exceptions and qualifications hereinafter provided in this Section 31.
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That's .... wow!