By Adam Allington
St. Louis – AB-InBev announced today that it is selling its amusement parks to a New York-based private equity company.
The Busch Entertainment Corporation was the second largest theme park operator in the country, running the popular Busch Gardens and SeaWorld destinations.
The deal will offload all ten of Busch's parks for $2.7 billion to the Blackstone Group.
Blackstone spokesman Peter Rose said he expects the parks to turn a solid profit for the company's investors.
"We have no plans to downsize or close the parks," he said. "They are some of the premium entertainment and theme parks in the United States, and we bought them both because of their quality and potential."
AB-InBeV CEO Carlos Brito said that Amusement parks are not part of the mega-brewer's "core business".