Shamu Gets a New Boss

The Sea World Parks, among other properties, are moving to a new owner:

Shamu finally has a new owner.

After months of negotiations, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced Wednesday that it will sell SeaWorld Orlando's parent Busch Entertainment Corp. to the Blackstone Group for as much as $2.7billion.

Blackstone, the New York-based private-equity giant, will pay $2.3billion in cash plus give A-B InBev the right to participate in as much as $400million of its initial returns. Blackstone will own 100 percent of Busch.

We visited Sea World San Diego two weeks ago and the Busch brand is found throughout the park, including Clydesdale horses and a beer tasting room. It will be interesting to see how the park changes under the new ownership.