Article: Blackstone to buy InBev parks ; SeaWorld, Busch Gardens in play

Blackstone Group LP, the world's biggest buyout firm, agreed to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev NV's amusement park business for as much as $2.7 billion in the largest private-equity deal this year.

Blackstone, based in New York, agreed to purchase the parks unit that includes SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, the companies said yesterday in a joint statement. AB InBev will get $2.3 billion in cash and as much as $400 million in extra payments depending on Blackstone's return on the investment.

"There was a lot of doubt among investors 12 months ago as to whether they could sell these assets," Andrew Holland, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London, said in an interview.

The purchase tops Silver ...

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