I'm so curious to see what happens. I wouldn't think NBC Universal would be buying Blackstone's share since I've heard that Comcast (who bought NBC Universal) has said they would like to get rid of/sell off the theme parks.
Comcast has however mentioned that they have high hopes for the Parks division, so I'm not sure how much the talk of their desire to get out of the park business is based on Fact, and how much is just speculation based off the fact most people see their interest in NBCUniversal being limited to the content that can be used on their Cable Systems.
it's also worth noting that the Exec that Comcast placed in charge of NBCU has a history working for Disney, and was on the management team for the Paris park at one time..... So there is some reason to believe that Comcast does understand the actual value the Theme Park can have when done right.
Interesting stuff! I've got to believe at the end of the day Universal Orlando will be open for business and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will still be in place. The real question is what does this do to any expansion or growth plans for the resort over the next 3 to 5 years.
The issue with the WWoHP... and probably also the Marvel properties, comes in the actual licensing agreement. Based off the Articles I've read, the Licensing for Harry Potter states that NBCU must retain ownership of the parks. If the parks are sold to a 3rd party (as in, NBCU does not take Blackstone's offer, and Blackstone then forces NBCU to sell it's interest to someone else), the existing Licensing agreement is no longer valid. It also mentions that the new owner would need to meet certain criteria and pass some tests by Warner in order to have a chance at retaining some sort of licensing for the HP properties. Even then, NBCU would still be required to maintain some sort of park management position.
It would be interesting to know if the Marvel deal has some sort of similar wording. Disney inherited the existing Licensing agreement w/ Universal when it purchased Marvel. Obviously, that existing contract is one which currently makes it not worth Disney's effort to reclaim the Marvel theme park rights.... but if that contract becomes null with a sale as well, It would be much easier to Disney to tell the new owners to retheme the section of Islands of Adventure if they didn't want to share those properties.
