ORLANDO, Fla. -- Thousands of employees of SeaWorld's three theme parks are anxiously waiting to find out if they'll have a new boss. The investment powerhouse The Blackstone Group is expected to announce soon that it will buy the parks from InBev.

While thousands are employees were aware of the impending sale, some had no idea about it.

"First I heard about it," employee Chris Seagle said.

Eyewitness News first reported last week The Blackstone Group was reportedly close to making an offer on all the Busch Entertainment Corporation (BEC) theme parks. At this point, the announcement of the sale could come at any time as The Blackstone Group is rumored to be ready to finalize a deal to purchase SeaWorld Orlando and the nine other BEC theme parks for as much as $3 billion.

Joan Lehmann has worked for SeaWorld for 18 years.

"That s what everybody's worries about. Cutting the hours you know?" she said. "You're worried about the unknown."

If the sale goes through, SeaWorld and its sister theme parks will begin a new chapter and it will have nothing to do with a beer company. The Wall Street Journal estimates the price tag between $2.5 and $3 billion.

Neither company will comment on the deal or when it might actually be announced, but when InBev bought Anheuser-Busch in 2008, the new, Belgian-based AB-InBev made it clear it preferred the beverage business to the tourism industry.

AB-InBev is trying to sell off some assets to pay down debt. The deal could include up to 10 theme parks, including Busch Gardens in Tampa. The Blackstone Group already owns half of Universal Orlando Resort.

Reports from insiders on the impending sale have said, at this point, it is unlikely the totally private sale would fall apart.

The Blackstone Group is an investment firm. It's well known for buying companies and trimming the fat to make them more profitable. Usually, the firm then sells the companies to investors on Wall Street.

The company owns about half of the Universal theme parks. It also owns Merlin Entertainment, which is the company behind the Legoland theme parks.