public traded as nyse seas industry theme park operator founded march 15 1960 ; 56 years ago 1960 03 15 headquarters orlando florida united states area served orlando florida ; san antonio texas ; san diego california ; chula vista california ; tampa florida ; williamsburg virginia ; langhorne pennsylvania key people joel manby ceo products theme park attractions rides and games revenue usd 1.377 billion 2014 1 operating income usd 160.59 million 2014 1 net income usd 49.9 million 2014 1 total assets usd 2.44 billion 2014 1 total equity usd 579.5 million 2014 1 number of employees 22 100 2 website official website seaworld parks & entertainment or simply known as seaworld is a family entertainment company formerly owned by blackstone group which retains a minority shareholding . it operates and maintains eleven theme parks located throughout the united states . formerly a subsidiary of anheuser busch since 1959 under which it was known as busch entertainment corporation 3 seaworld parks is headquartered in orlando florida . 3 4 according to their most recent securities and exchange commission filing annual attendance for calendar year 2012 was 24.4 million while attendance for the january 1 october 31 2013 period was 18.9 million . average revenue per attendee was 62.79 of which 62 % consists of admission fees . 55 % of revenues were generated from parks in florida 20 % in california and 11 % in virginia . 2 in october 2009 anheuser busch inbev announced plans to sell the division to private equity firm the blackstone group in order to reduce the debt load generated by inbev s 2008 purchase of anheuser busch . 5 the sale was completed on december 1 2009 and with it came a new company name seaworld parks & entertainment . contents 1 history 1.1 acquisition by the blackstone group 1.2 initial public offering 1.3 decline in income 2 current properties 3 dubai properties 4 former properties 5 see also 6 references history edit anheuser busch initially created the subsidiary to run the various busch gardens parks . the parks at tampa florida and williamsburg virginia were located adjacent to breweries and the parks included tours of the facilities and even free samples of the products made there . in 1989 anheuser busch purchased the theme park unit of publisher harcourt brace jovanovich which included the seaworld family of parks . the purchase also included two other parks in central florida cypress gardens and boardwalk and baseball . boardwalk and baseball was promptly closed while cypress gardens was later sold and transformed into legoland florida which opened in october 2011 . the parks were managed out of anheuser busch s headquarters in st. louis missouri until 2008 when the company relocated the division to florida where five of the company s ten parks were located . 3 in 2008 anheuser busch was acquired by brazilian belgian brewer inbev . based on its previous acquisitions it was widely expected that inbev would later sell off non core assets in order to pay down the debt created by its purchase of anheuser busch ; the theme park division was considered one of the most likely assets to be sold . 6 in early 2009 inbev began soliciting bids for those assets in advance of an anticipated sale . 7 as part of the plans to shed the division busch entertainment ended the free beer sampling programs at those parks that had them . 8 similarly busch entertainment broke from its parent company and terminated a benefit where employees of legal age received two free cases of anheuser busch beer per month a benefit that continued for the rest of the company . 8 9 at the time inbev was thought to be considering selling the parks to the highest bidder or spinning off busch entertainment as an independent company . 7 it was suggested at one point that nbc universal was interested in purchasing busch entertainment and folding it into the universal studios theme parks chain but no official bid for the company surfaced . 10 however other asset sales such as the sale of tsingtao brewery and an issuance of 3 billion in new long term debt in may 2009 raised over 11 billion since the start of 2009 temporarily reducing the need to sell busch entertainment . 11 other cited reasons for an apparent reluctance to sell off the company included still volatile credit markets and receipt of initial bids that were lower than expected . 11 acquisition by the blackstone group edit in late 2009 the blackstone group reportedly entered into negotiations to acquire busch entertainment . 12 the blackstone group already owned a partnership in universal orlando resort and a significant interest in merlin entertainments which operates attractions and theme parks such as madame tussauds and legoland . 12 previous estimates have valued busch entertainment at somewhere between usd 2.5 3.0 billion . 12 on 7 october 2009 the discussions came to fruition as anheuser busch inbev announced plans to sell busch entertainment corporation to the blackstone group in a deal worth approximately us 2.7 billion . 13 as part of the deal blackstone will maintain the current management team from busch entertainment and operate it as a separate entity . 13 further anheuser busch will sign a sponsorship agreement with the company thus allowing the two busch gardens parks to keep their current names and promotions including the here s to the heroes military appreciation program . 13 in announcing the deal busch entertainment president jim atchison said that blackstone s acquisition brings an awful lot of strategic vision for us . we re going to continue to grow the business together . 13 the acquisition would be done with no loss of jobs at the parks or at the company s orlando headquarters . 5 new departments will be hired to fill positions that would previously been managed by anheuser busch such as a legal department and procurement staff . 13 the largest proposed change to the operation of the parks would be the removal of anheuser busch s clydesdale from those parks that currently have them and the removal of the a & eagle logos . 13 anheuser busch licenses the busch gardens name to seaworld entertainment perpetually . 2 initial public offering edit on december 27 2012 seaworld parks & entertainment announced that it had filed for an initial public offering ipo of stock . part of the proceeds from this sale would go to blackstone group which would retain a controlling interest in the company . it began trading april 19 2013 on the new york stock exchange with a ticker symbol of seas . 14 15 decline in income edit following cnn s broadcast of the documentary blackfish which criticized the company s handling of killer whale exhibits seaworld s profits went into a steep decline and its share values plummeted . seaworld said in august 2014 that the film had hurt revenues at its park in san diego california . 16 on december 11 2014 seaworld announced that chief executive jim atchison would resign with an interim successor replacing him on january 15 2015 . the company s share price had fallen 44 % in 2014 . 16 17 in august 2015 seaworld announced an 84 % drop in second quarter 2015 net income compared to the year before . total income was down 3 % from 2014 2015 . visitors fell by 100 000 from 6.58 million to 6.48 million . 18 19 20 21 current properties edit beginning november 9 2007 the parks collectively became known as worlds of discovery . 22 prior to the introduction of the worlds of discovery brand the parks were marketed as anheuser busch adventure parks emphasizing their animal exhibits and thrill rides . since the company s sale to blackstone in 2009 the worlds of discovery branding is no longer in use . busch gardens parks busch gardens tampa tampa florida busch gardens williamsburg williamsburg virginia seaworld parks seaworld orlando orlando florida seaworld san antonio san antonio texas seaworld san diego san diego california water parks adventure island tampa florida aquatica orlando orlando florida aquatica san antonio san antonio texas aquatica san diego chula vista california water country usa williamsburg virginia other parks sesame place langhorne pennsylvania discovery cove orlando florida dubai properties edit first announced in february 2008 dubai developer nakheel planned to license seaworld s properties for its own worlds of discovery with the first parks set to open in 2012 . 23 however the global financial crisis of 2008 09 has prompted both nakheel and busch entertainment to suspend development indefinitely although both sides expect to move forward when the financial climate improves . 24 first phase originally planned for december 2012 24 seaworld aquatica dubai similar to the facility in orlando second phase originally planned for 2015 24 busch gardens discovery cove former properties edit busch gardens parks pasadena california 1905 1937 los angeles california 1964 1979 houston texas 1971 1972 seaworld parks seaworld ohio aurora ohio 1970 2000 other parks cypress gardens winter haven florida was purchased alongside the seaworld parks in 1989 then sold to the park s management team . the park closed in 2009 . acquired by merlin entertainments in 2010 the park now operates as legoland florida which opened in october 2011 . boardwalk and baseball haines city florida was purchased alongside the seaworld parks in 1989 but was promptly closed . portaventura salou spain was constructed in 1997 in a joint venture with universal parks & resorts and the tussauds group . universal bought out its partners in 2000 but would sell its own interests in the park in 2004 . see also edit incidents at seaworld parks blackfish film references edit a b c d e seaworld entertainment inc. 2013 12 12 . seaworld 2014 annual report pdf . retrieved 2015 09 14 . a b c seaworld entertainment inc. 2013 12 12 . seaworld prospectus pdf . retrieved 2014 01 05 . a b c scott powers 2007 10 25 . busch entertainment to call orlando home . www.orlandosentinel.com . archived from the original on october 26 2007 . retrieved 2007 10 25 . terms and conditions . seaworld parks and entertainment . retrieved on february 26 2010 . archived december 30 2009 at the wayback machine . a b inbev selling busch gardens seaworld parks . theledger.com . associated press . 2009 10 07 . retrieved 2009 10 07 . christopher leonard 2008 07 15 . can inbev sell anheuser busch theme parks . foxnews.com . associated press . retrieved 2009 10 04 . a b sale expected soon on busch theme parks . virginia gazette . 2009 01 15 . retrieved 2009 01 23 . dead link dead link a b barton eckert 2009 01 06 . no more free beer at busch gardens williamsburg . washington business journal . retrieved 2009 10 12 . jeremiah mcwilliams 2009 06 24 . free beer continues at anheuser busch ; what does brito think . stltoday.com . retrieved 2009 10 26 . dead link will universal seaworld combine forces . orlando sentinel . 2009 04 27 . retrieved 2009 04 27 . a b jason garcia 2009 05 13 . is urgency to sell seaworld other busch parks ebbing . orlando sentinel . retrieved 2009 05 13 . a b c jessica hall and megan davies 2009 10 02 . blackstone near deal to buy theme parks sources . reuters.com . reuters . retrieved 2009 10 04 . a b c d e f jason garcia 2009 10 07 . seaworld orlando busch gardens other parks sold to blackstone group . orlando sentinel . retrieved 2009 10 07 . seaworld stock surges in first day of trading . new york post . 2013 04 19 . garcia jason 2012 12 27 . seaworld files to sell stock in ipo . orlandosentinel.com . orlando sentinel