The Blackstone Group is reducing its stake in SeaWorld Entertainment, almost a year after taking the theme park operator public.
Blackstone plans to sell 15 million shares of SeaWorld in a secondary offering, according to a prospectus filed on Monday. At Friday’s closing price of $33.17 a share, the offering would be worth $498 million.
The deal will allow Blackstone to realize additional profit from its investment in SeaWorld, which it bought for $2.3 billion in 2009. Last April, the company was valued at $2.5 billion in its initial public offering, with its shares priced at $27. Blackstone sold shares in the I.P.O. but retained a majority stake.
Now, Blackstone, which currently has a 42.8 percent stake in SeaWorld, is expected to wind up with a stake of 25 percent after the latest offering. If the underwriters exercise an option to buy additional shares, the private equity firm would have a 22.5 percent stake, according to the prospectus.
As part of the deal, the company is considering buying 1.75 million shares of its stock directly from Blackstone in a private transaction.
SeaWorld, based in Orlando, Fla., has contended with several challenges since its stock market debut. Last summer, the company went on the defensive after a documentary, “Blackfish,†raised troubling questions about its treatment of orca whales in captivity.
Several weeks after the film was released, SeaWorld cut its ticket prices after a decline in attendance, and the stock price suffered.
In December, Blackstone sold 18 million shares in a secondary offering, at a price of $30 a share. SeaWorld bought 1.5 million shares in that deal.
The latest offering is being underwritten by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
