Blackstone, the private equity backer of Hilton and Merlin, has completed a $2.7bn (£1.7bn) takeover of one of the world’s biggest theme park operators.
It has acquired Busch Entertainment, an operator of ten American theme parks, including three SeaWorld parks in Florida, Texas and California, from Anheuser-Busch InBev in a deal which will see it pay $2.3bn in cash and up to $400m depending on performance.
Debt funding is being provided by Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Mizuho.
