Blackstone Unloads Final 21% Stake In SeaWorld Entertainment To Chinese Firm For $429M
Blackstone Group has sold its remaining 21% stake in SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. to China’s Zhonghong Zhuoye Group for roughly $429M.
The sale, which factors out to about $23/share according to GlobeSt, is one of several deals the world’s largest alternative investment firm has made with Chinese players in the past several years. This includes the sale of its Strategic Hotels & Resorts portfolio in 2016 to Chinese insurer Anbang in a blockbuster deal worth $6.5B, followed a string of deals with Chinese investors including the sale of the iconic Waldorf Astoria in Midtown Manhattan to Anbang for $1.95B and the sale of a 25% stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings to China’s HNA Group for roughly $6.5B.
Blackstone bought out SeaWorld Entertainment — which operates five theme parks in the U.S. — for $2.3B in 2009 from Anheuser-Busch NV. As part of the deal, SeaWorld will advise Zhonghong in its plans to develop and design theme parks and family entertainment hubs in China. The sale is projected to close in Q2.
