Moodie and dolphin (Photo : Getty Images)
Besides the Shanghai Disneyland and upcoming Dalian Wanda theme parks in China, more theme parks would rise after a Chinese company just got rights to build SeaWorld theme parks in the country. The Zhonghong Zhouyo said in a statement on Friday it acquired a 21 percent stake in SeaWorld Entertainment in the U.S. and would open similar parks in China.
More SeaWorld Parks in China
Besides mainland, the acquisition by Zhonghong Zhouyo of a majority share in SeaWorld, worth about $430 million, or $23 per share, gives the Chinese company the right to build SeaWorld theme parks also in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, Enca reported. The buy-in took place when two previous attempts by Chinese conglomerates to acquire entertainment assets in the U.S. failed.
However, the two failed attempts were related to movie and TV production, while Zhonghong Zhouyo’s investment is on live entertainment. But SeaWorld too has its share of controversy, following the release in 2013 of the “Blackfish” documentary that caused an 84 percent drop in the net income of SeaWorld California in Q2 2015 to $5.8 million from $37.4 million. The docu is about life in captivity of Orca whales in SeaWorld.
Killer Whales Live to their Name
The documentary was preceded by the death of two SeaWorld trainers on different occasions caused by the killer whales. “Tilly,” which was featured in the 2013 docu, killed a part-time trainer at Canada’s Sealand of the Pacific park in 1991. It was also involved in the death of a man who sneaked into SeaWorld in 1999 to swim with the mammals after the park closed.
Another killer whale grabbed in 2010 the ponytail of Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer. The Orca dragged her underwater as horrified audience watch Dawn Brancheau drown to her death in SeaWorld Orlando at the end of a live show. SeaWorld entertainment operates 12 parks across the U.S., three of these are amusement parks named SeaWorld, dedicated to marine attractions, featuring dolphin shows and killer whales.
SeaWorld and Zhonghong Zhouyo are expected to finalize by Q2 2017 the acquisition. There is a possibility that the Chinese firm would even hike its stake to 24.9 percent.
