Soon the public will be able to purchase shares of stock in SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., the parent company of several theme parks including Busch Gardens and Water Country USA.
SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 27 to register the company in order to sell stocks to the public. The stocks will be available under the symbol SEAS.
SeaWorld plans to use the money earned from sale of the stocks to improve on existing theme parks and attractions and to add new attractions.
“We plan to drive increased attendance to our theme parks by continually introducing new attractions, differentiated experiences and enhanced service offerings,” SeaWorld wrote in documents filed with the SEC.
The parks will offer new things for a range of prices such as an all-day dining deal and new smartphone apps for the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks. Various ticket options and pricing will help increase revenue, and profitability will be increased through additional attendance. Theme parks have been grouped near water parks so “companion theme parks” can be operated to reduce overhead costs and sell multi-park tickets. The parks continue “to expand into new media platforms by partnering … to create new, powerful entertainment opportunities,” the documents read.
SeaWorld cites a number of risks related to owning and purchasing the shares in the SEC documents. No market exists for stock because the company has never sold shares on the public market; due to the lack of prior market, there is no way to determine how the shares will do — if people purchase them, they may not be able to sell them or to recoup the full amount of money they spent.
The cost of the public “stock will be substantially higher than the net tangible book value,” the document reads, which means the cost of the stock may outweigh the value of the company and the costs will be higher than what was paid by existing stockholders.
Because SeaWorld is owned by The Blackstone Group LP, it is a controlled company and does not have to comply with SEC rules relating to internal controls over financial reporting. The company is not required to prepare financial statements for outside companies and people in accordance with accounting principles.
No information has been released as to when the shares will be available for purchase, how many shares will be available or how much the shares will initially cost. Blackstone Group “will continue to own a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares,” according to documents filed with the SEC.
SeaWorld employs approximately 22,100 employees across its parks, including three SeaWorld parks, two Busch Gardens parks, two Aquatica parks, Discovery Cove, Adventure Island, Water County USA and Sesame Place. The company purchased Knott’s Soak City Chula Vista water park in November and plans to rebrand the park as Aquatica San Diego before reopening it this year.
