#aaron manby

[quotesfrommyreading]

It is no exaggeration to say that from the invention of sailing through the late 18th century, the economic prosperity, scientific progress, and military success of most nations around the globe fundamentally depended on string and rope. For much of this time, there were no major revolutions in sailing technology. Instead, there were elaborations and restructurings of an ancient template: a roughly crescent wooden vessel equipped with at least one mast and sail, and webbed with plenty of rigging. Toward the end of the age of sail, some of the more ostentatious designs verged on the absurd; certain full-rigged ships were so bedecked with line and linen that they looked more like parade floats than instruments of trade and war.

By the late 1700s, engineers in England, France, Scotland, and North America were experimenting with steamboats. In 1822, the Aaron Manby became the first iron steamship to go to sea, traveling across the English Channel from London to Paris. By the 1860s, the British, French, and Russian navies had heavily armed steamships. After this, “a great epoch in naval history came to an end,” write Romola and R. C. Anderson in The Sailing Ship: Six Thousand Years of History.

But it was not the end of the line for cordage. Even today’s motorized metal behemoths, slicing through the sea at unprecedented speeds, rely on rope and string. Terry Schafer, a navy shipyard rigger in Victoria, British Columbia, has been professionally tangled with cordage since the 1980s. “When I finished my apprenticeship, I worried I had chosen a dying craft,” he says. “But there is still a lot of demand for a skilled rigger today.” Schafer and his colleagues manufacture all the cordage the navy requires: tow ropes; hoist cables for cranes, winches, and dumbwaiters; woven fenders that cloak the lips of tugboats like mustaches and beards; ropes to tie the ships at harbor; ropes that fly the navy’s flags; and artfully knotted ropes to ring the bells that help sailors keep strict schedules. Schafer mostly works with synthetic materials including Kevlar, various plastics, and metal wire. But he occasionally uses plant fibers as well: cotton, flax, manila hemp (from a species of banana), sisal (from agave), and coir (from the waterproof buoyant husks of coconuts).

 —   The Long, Knotty, World-Spanning Story of String

[touristguidebuzz]

Legoland Owner Merlin Has Reportedly Offered to Buy Part of SeaWorld

Merlin Entertainments has reportedly made a bid to buy part of SeaWorld Entertainment. Pictured is an orca show at SeaWorld Orlando. Sam Pangan / Flickr

Skift Take: Merlin Entertainments has been hinting at this for a couple of months now, and SeaWorld is in need of some rescuing. But would the beleaguered company want to sell off its Busch Gardens assets, considering those parks don't carry the same baggage as the marquee brand?

— Hannah Sampson

Merlin Entertainments Plc has approached SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. about a potential deal, according to people familiar with the matter, as the U.K. theme-park operator seeks to expand overseas to offset a slide in tourists visiting London.

Merlin, which runs the Thorpe Park Resort in southern England and Legoland parks across the world, has made a bid for part of the company, which could be a hurdle as SeaWorld prefers an outright sale, the people said. SeaWorld, which has been working with advisers to explore options including a sale, also received interest from other possible suitors, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details aren’t public.

The offer comes as SeaWorld Chief Executive Officer Joel Manby struggles to stem declines in sales and the stock price of the Orlando-based park owner once famous for its killer whales. For Merlin, a deal by the operator of the London Eye and Madame Tussauds waxworks would mark a continuation of its strategy to expand internationally to cope with a drop in day-trippers to the British capital following terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.

Shares of Orlando, Florida-based SeaWorld rose 4.6 percent in late trading in New York Wednesday. Shares of Merlin were up 1.8 percent at 10:51 a.m. in London Thursday, giving the company a market value of 4.65 billion pounds ($6.14 billion).

Quality Assets

SeaWorld which is currently valued at about $1.3 billion, counts Chinese leisure firm Zhonghong Group as the biggest shareholder, with a 21 percent stake acquired in March from Blackstone Group LP. Zhonghong didn’t respond to an email seeking comment during the Golden Week holiday in China.

Representatives for Merlin and SeaWorld declined to comment.

Merlin has a policy of not keeping cetaceans such as whales and dolphins in captivity, which would signal that its interest lies in SeaWorld’s Busch Gardens theme-park assets. Chief Financial Officer Anne-Francoise Nesmes said on Merlin’s earnings call on Aug. 4 that the Busch Gardens parks are “good-quality assets and that we would be interested. But it takes two parties to do a deal.”

The company said in August it expects to meet profit estimates, with two-thirds of revenue coming from outside the U.K. and new attractions opening in China and India.

SeaWorld could raise as much as $1 billion from selling regional parks like Busch Gardens, getting funding to invest in its core aquatic-themed locations, Suntrust analyst Michael Swartz said in August. Busch Gardens has locations in Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia.

More than two years into an attempted turnaround of the company, the shares of the theme park operator have fallen 25 percent this year, amid shrinking attendance and missed earnings forecasts.

The park owner came under fire in the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which accused the company of mistreating its killer whales. Under Manby, SeaWorld stopped breeding orcas, created a new show in its San Diego park with animals performing more natural behaviors, and invested in non-animal attractions, such as roller coasters and ocean-themed rides.

Blackstone, the world’s largest buyout firm, took SeaWorld public in 2013 after acquiring it four years earlier for $2.3 billion. Blackstone sold its final block of shares this year, cementing a return of about 2.7 times its original investment. Blackstone also owned Merlin in the past. The private equity firm acquired the entertainment company in 2005, bolstered it with acquisitions, sold a stake to CVC Capital Partners in 2010 and exited its final position in 2015.

–With assistance from Devin Banerjee and Aaron Kirchfeld

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was written by Ed Hammond, Ruth David and Paul Jarvis from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

[rollinbrigittenv8]

Legoland Owner Merlin Has Reportedly Offered to Buy Part of SeaWorld

Merlin Entertainments has reportedly made a bid to buy part of SeaWorld Entertainment. Pictured is an orca show at SeaWorld Orlando. Sam Pangan / Flickr

Skift Take: Merlin Entertainments has been hinting at this for a couple of months now, and SeaWorld is in need of some rescuing. But would the beleaguered company want to sell off its Busch Gardens assets, considering those parks don't carry the same baggage as the marquee brand?

— Hannah Sampson

Merlin Entertainments Plc has approached SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. about a potential deal, according to people familiar with the matter, as the U.K. theme-park operator seeks to expand overseas to offset a slide in tourists visiting London.

Merlin, which runs the Thorpe Park Resort in southern England and Legoland parks across the world, has made a bid for part of the company, which could be a hurdle as SeaWorld prefers an outright sale, the people said. SeaWorld, which has been working with advisers to explore options including a sale, also received interest from other possible suitors, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details aren’t public.

The offer comes as SeaWorld Chief Executive Officer Joel Manby struggles to stem declines in sales and the stock price of the Orlando-based park owner once famous for its killer whales. For Merlin, a deal by the operator of the London Eye and Madame Tussauds waxworks would mark a continuation of its strategy to expand internationally to cope with a drop in day-trippers to the British capital following terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.

Shares of Orlando, Florida-based SeaWorld rose 4.6 percent in late trading in New York Wednesday. Shares of Merlin were up 1.8 percent at 10:51 a.m. in London Thursday, giving the company a market value of 4.65 billion pounds ($6.14 billion).

Quality Assets

SeaWorld which is currently valued at about $1.3 billion, counts Chinese leisure firm Zhonghong Group as the biggest shareholder, with a 21 percent stake acquired in March from Blackstone Group LP. Zhonghong didn’t respond to an email seeking comment during the Golden Week holiday in China.

Representatives for Merlin and SeaWorld declined to comment.

Merlin has a policy of not keeping cetaceans such as whales and dolphins in captivity, which would signal that its interest lies in SeaWorld’s Busch Gardens theme-park assets. Chief Financial Officer Anne-Francoise Nesmes said on Merlin’s earnings call on Aug. 4 that the Busch Gardens parks are “good-quality assets and that we would be interested. But it takes two parties to do a deal.”

The company said in August it expects to meet profit estimates, with two-thirds of revenue coming from outside the U.K. and new attractions opening in China and India.

SeaWorld could raise as much as $1 billion from selling regional parks like Busch Gardens, getting funding to invest in its core aquatic-themed locations, Suntrust analyst Michael Swartz said in August. Busch Gardens has locations in Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia.

More than two years into an attempted turnaround of the company, the shares of the theme park operator have fallen 25 percent this year, amid shrinking attendance and missed earnings forecasts.

The park owner came under fire in the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which accused the company of mistreating its killer whales. Under Manby, SeaWorld stopped breeding orcas, created a new show in its San Diego park with animals performing more natural behaviors, and invested in non-animal attractions, such as roller coasters and ocean-themed rides.

Blackstone, the world’s largest buyout firm, took SeaWorld public in 2013 after acquiring it four years earlier for $2.3 billion. Blackstone sold its final block of shares this year, cementing a return of about 2.7 times its original investment. Blackstone also owned Merlin in the past. The private equity firm acquired the entertainment company in 2005, bolstered it with acquisitions, sold a stake to CVC Capital Partners in 2010 and exited its final position in 2015.

–With assistance from Devin Banerjee and Aaron Kirchfeld

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was written by Ed Hammond, Ruth David and Paul Jarvis from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

[gospelofthekingdom]

Tertullian's philosophical paradigm, grounded in the nature of God as revealed in Christ, mandated the rejection of all bloodshed [~190-210 CE] Because Christ had died for all, "When one person kills another, it is always a crime against God and an act of the devil.' [Apology 46.15]

-Aaron Manby, Absolute Pacifism in the Early Church & its Relevance in the 21st Century