SeaWorld Will Take Its Killer Whales Public

by Tom Taulli | December 27, 2012 11:25 am

SeaWorld Entertainment has filed for an IPO[1]. SeaWorld operates 11 amusement parks, which are home to 67,000 marine and terrestrial animals, including 28 killer whales!

The offering’s lead underwriters include Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS[2]), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM[3]), Citigroup (NYSE:C[4]), BofA Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC[5]), Barclays (NYSE:BCS[6]) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC[7]). While the proposed ticker is “SEAS,” the Securities & Exchange filing didn’t mention which exchange the company will list on.

And yes, the financials are solid. For the first nine months of 2012, revenues went from $1.079 billion to $1.161 billion. During this time, operating income climbed from $170.3 million to $228.7 million.

Back in late 2009, Anheuser-Busch InBev sold its SeaWorld division to private equity powerhouse Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX[8]). The price tag was $2.7 billion.

SeaWorld plans to use the IPO proceeds to pare down its debt and pay a one-time distribution to Blackstone.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook[9], a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He is also the author of “How to Create the Next Facebook[10]” and “High-Profit IPO Strategies: Finding Breakout IPOs for Investors and Traders[11].”  Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli[12]. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Endnotes:
  1. filed for an IPO: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323984704578205213931261632.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
  2. GS: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GS
  3. JPM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=JPM
  4. C: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=C
  5. BAC: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=BAC
  6. BCS: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=BCS
  7. WFC: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=WFC
  8. BX: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=BX
  9. IPO Playbook: http://investorplace.com/ipo-playbook/
  10. How to Create the Next Facebook: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1430246472/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0GRB6ZMCTYDZVNG7Q7NV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846
  11. High-Profit IPO Strategies: Finding Breakout IPOs for Investors and Traders: http://goo.gl/pR2F3
  12. @ttaulli: https://twitter.com/ttaulli

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