Exactly, and I'm still not drawing this connection that so many others around the web are making. SEAS is a struggling company currently on a course for potential downsizing or even failure. HFEC is a rapidly growing company that is poised for even more rapid growth in the near future. Why would SEAS be in a position to spend the billions it would take to buy out HFEC? Why would they add on a huge new class of properties onto an already poorly performing system?
I mean, maybe I'm just being optimistic here, but I don't see SEAS doing much of anything except focusing on it's own improvement for the next five years. Even if things are going really well for them after that it still won't make sense to splurge billions on such a large array of diverse properties. Ten, fifteen years down the road no one knows what will happen, but like I say, it could be HFEC buying SEAS.
Time out, 4 of their parks are top 20 in the states. They have cut back on some things but so has Disney and HFE. They have made cuts, but it's similar to profitable parks as well. Just look at the cuts Disney made at Epcot. They did not handle the backlash from that propaganda piece called Blackfish well and underwhelmed on their new Penguin ride at Orlando but capital expenditures go on at all the parks. Taking a cue from Disney, they are going to maximize profit potential on value added experiences with their animals. Orlando presents a challenge due to the explosion of UNI. They need some blockbuster rides and they need to market them. They are completely missing out of the "On Resort" boom that's capturing people for more than a day. SEAS was a little side business of Anheuser Busch but was divested when bought out by a multinational. It went private and them public with the unfortunate timing of the whole Blackfish thing.
They are sinking boocoo dolla in Orca habitats and that's admirable. It's basically upgrading them like most zoos and aquariums are doing to provide a more natural sitting but there's always going to be an anti captive element gunning for you. This goes for all zoos and aquariums. AB completely missed out the Aquarium boom across the country. You've seen outfits like Merlin and Landry's take this to another level not to mention Ripleys' and Herschend getting in on it. Oh and the municipal ones, too. That diminishes SeaWorld's core draw. Look Shark tubes are everywhere, my Girl and I swim with them at Typhoon Lagoon. They are going to have to add rides and I think there's still a place for smaller SeaWorld branded aquarium attractions. I'd steal a page out of Merlin's book and couple it with a Sesame Street dry attraction in strategic locations, They need to come up with spectacular things for the large parks as well, things you will never see in Tulsa or Atlanta or Chattanooga.
see the Ocean World Whale Shark aquarium in China.
I think SeaWorld needs better marketing, and that alone will do wonders. They are playing too much defense.
But...maybe you are right, Manby maybe gets their books in order to sell them to HFE and that's the ultimate goal, go in and repair and then bring them home and Manby takes over HFE again. It's what we thought they were doing with Elitch and Darien Lake, get them in order and buy them out. Still it makes more sense for a public company to bring proven brands with established revenue streams in not the other way around and to get them performing well and take them private. Mostly struggling companies go private, like say, Eddie Bauer, to get it's house in order but almost always are sold back to a public outfit in time.
