San Diego’s SeaWorld, along with its two sister SeaWorld parks, two Busch Gardens parks and five other entertainment attractions, will be sold to The Blackstone Group, an international private equity firm headquartered in New York. A joint announcement yesterday by Anheuser-Busch InBev and The Blackstone Group, stated that the entire Busch Entertainment Corporation will be acquired by Blackstone in a deal involving a $2.3 billion cash payment and the right to participate in a return on investment totaling up to $400 million. The transaction is pending regulatory clearance. “We have no staff reductions at all related to this transaction at any level,” said Busch Entertainment Corporation President Jim Atchison, adding that the corporation will continue to run and maintain the park as usual, as well as continue with present plans regarding the park’s attractions. Blackstone owns Hilton Hotels, Orbitz Travel, Merlin theme parks in the U.K., has a 50 percent ownership in Universal Orlando and owns “more hotel rooms than anyone in the world,” Atchison said. “So they have a pretty broad perspective when it comes to the travel and leisure sector,” Atchison added. The sale will allow Anheuser-Busch InBev to focus on its core business of brewing beer, according to the joint statement.