Report: SeaWorld sale to Six Flags in works
ORLANDO, Fla. — SeaWorld would not comment this week on a report that Six Flags is looking to buy it.
Blogger Themed Reality has reported Six Flags Entertainment is in talks to buy all or some of SeaWorld Entertainment’s parks — a portfolio that includes the marquee SeaWorld Orlando, the Aquatica Orlando water park and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
The report emerges after SeaWorld posted strong financials for the third quarter in a row Monday. A Six Flags spokeswoman did not return messages for comment Tuesday.
Attendance is up at SeaWorld parks and the $2.2 billion company has said it is investing in new attractions, including Sesame Street land in Orlando.
Meanwhile for Six Flags, the $4.89 billion company released disappointing quarterly earnings in October, Bloomberg reported.
Six Flags was the seventh largest theme park operator in the world with nearly 31 million attendance in 2017, according to the Themed Entertainment Association/AECOM report.
SeaWorld, the ninth, had nearly 21 million in 2017, the report said.
It’s not the first time sale rumors have swirled around SeaWorld.
In October 2017, Bloomberg reported that Merlin Entertainment — which owns Legoland theme parks — was interested in buying SeaWorld.
More than a year later, that sale hasn’t happened.
SeaWorld is in the midst of turnaround after years of declining attendance as it dealt with the “Blackfish” anti-whale captivity documentary while Disney World and Universal also separated themselves further from SeaWorld in the competition.
SeaWorld is still without a permanent CEO. John Reilly was promoted to the interim CEO position.
