SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. Announces Closing Of Initial Public Offering Of 29,900,000 Shares Of Common Stock

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Apr 24, 2013, 04:16 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) ("SeaWorld Entertainment" or the "Company") today announced the closing of an initial public offering of 29.9 million shares of common stock at a price to the public of $27 per share.

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SeaWorld Entertainment issued and sold 10 million shares of common stock in the offering and selling stockholders affiliated with The Blackstone Group L.P. offered and sold 19.9 million shares of common stock in the offering, including 3.9 million shares that were offered and sold by the selling stockholders pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option.

The offering raised proceeds to the Company of $253.8 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions. SeaWorld Entertainment will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares sold by the selling stockholders. SeaWorld Entertainment used a portion of the net proceeds to the Company from the offering to redeem $140 million in aggregate principal amount of the 11% Senior Notes due 2016 issued by its subsidiary, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc., at a redemption price of 111%, plus accrued and unpaid interest thereof, and will use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to repay $37 million of its senior secured term loan B facility. In addition, SeaWorld Entertainment used approximately $46.3 million of the net proceeds from the offering to make a one-time payment to an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, L.P. in connection with the termination of a management advisory agreement.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan acted as joint bookrunning managers and as representatives of the underwriters in the offering. Citigroup, BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Wells Fargo Securities were also bookrunners in the offering. Blackstone Capital Markets, Lazard Capital Markets, Macquarie Capital, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Nomura, Drexel Hamilton, LLC and Ramirez & Co. Inc. acted as co-managers in the offering.

A registration statement relating to shares of the common stock of SeaWorld Entertainment was declared effective on April 18, 2013 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described above, nor shall there be any sale of such shares of common stock in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

The offering was made solely by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from Goldman, Sachs & Co. at Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282 or by telephone at 866-471-2526 or by facsimile at 212-902-9316 or by email at [email protected], J.P. Morgan at c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or by telephone at 866-803-9204, Citigroup at c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or by telephone at 800-831-9146 or by email at [email protected], BofA Merrill Lynch at 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, Attn: Prospectus Department or by email at [email protected], Barclays at c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or by telephone at 888-603-5847 or by email at [email protected] and Wells Fargo Securities at 375 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10152, Attn: Equity Syndication Department or by telephone at 800-326-5897 or by email at [email protected].