Kenversations: Is That a Hidden Mickey on Shamu?
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Major Media Conglomerates � Time Warner, National Amusements (Viacom, CBS), News Corp, NBC Universal, or Sony.

I�m drawing a blank on News Corp (Fox), but I know the other companies have all been involved in theme parks or location-based entertainment in the U.S. in the past. However, the trend seems to be a decreasing involvement here, even if they are developing (or licensing content for) new parks in Asia or elsewhere. Plus, all of those companies are trying to ride out a time that is expecially tough on media companies, especially ones that rely on advertiser funding and piracy protection. Rumors seem to pop up with some regularity that NBC-Universal will drop their parks (though the Hollywood park is so integrated with the studio I don�t see how it would work).

Which takes me to�

Existing Major Theme Park Operators � Universal, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Village Roadshow, Oriental Land Company, Merlin Entertainment, Herschend, Hershey, PARC Management, Parques Reunidos

It has to be tempting for Universal to want to expand their hold in the Orlando area by picking up parks with whom they already have some joint promotions, and there is little redundancy with Universal�s existing parks. The drawback would be what to do about having parks so close yet so far apart in southern California � though Busch seems to have managed just fine having a park in Tampa and three in Orlando. Plus, the Busch Gardens parks could easily be separated from their stepsibilings and would have more likely buyers, in terms of companies that would be a good fit. But again, NBC-Universal seems more likely to move away from the domestic theme park business instead of expanding its presence in it.

Six Flags unloaded a bunch of parks not long ago, and while Busch Gardens and the water slide parks might fit in with the stable, Sea World and Discovery Cove would be a whole new ball game for Six Flags, though they did gain some experience converting a Sea World park (Ohio). Are any of those people still with the company?

Cedar Fair would be an interesting buyer, again with little redundancy. They integrated long-established Knott�s Berry Farm into their company, as well as other parks.

Village Roadshow has ties to Time Warner and operates a �Sea World� in Australia. But would they want to make such a large foray into American theme parks?

Oriental Land Company owns and operates the Disney parks in Japan, including DisneySea, but you can be sure their agreement with the Walt Disney Company would not allow them to get involved in American theme parks without them.

Merlin Entertainments Group is a large, international operator based in Great Britain, and the Busch parks could be a nice addition to their portfolio. They own Legoland parks, one of which isn�t all that far from Sea World San Diego. Interestingly, the Blackstone Group holds a majority ownership of Merlin, and also owns half of Universal Orlando.

There�s Herschend Family Entertainment, a privately-owned themed-entertainment company.

Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company has, among other properties, Hersheypark in Pennsylvania. Could we get chocolate samples instead of beer samples? The Busch Gardens parks and Sesame Place might be a good fit � but what about the rest?

PARC Management, a recently formed company, is based in Jacksonville, Florida. The company is comprised of people who have experience in theme parks, including Six Flags. In fact, the company bought seven of the parks that Six Flags shed in 2007. They have a diverse portfolio of parks.

Parques Reunidos, based in Madrid, Spain, is another international operator with a diverse park protfolio, including water and zoological parks. Heck, they can walk over to InBev�s HQ to negotiate. The company is owned by a private equity firm, Candover Investments.

A group of investors might be what is needed. Blackstone, which, as I noted, owns half of Universal Orlando, has a history of theme park involvement. Maybe Blackstone could team up with Candover? Or maybe the same people from the Middle East who wanted Busch theme parks in Dubai could make their lives easier by buying the company?

What about spinning off the parks as their own company?

What about the Busch family buying some or all of the parks?

What about a nonprofit, such as a wildlife concern, getting involved?