originally posted on 11/3/2023
Photos: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
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When rumblings began on Wednesday, November 1, it wasn’t the first time a merger of Cedar Fair and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (Six Flags) threatened to make waves in the amusement industry. However, this time the rumors became something concrete, leading to two of North America’s largest theme park operators combining to create one even-larger entity. It follows last year’s unsuccessful attempt by Cedar Fair to merge with SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
According to both companies, the maneuver makes sense. Following the recent global pandemic, amusement parks have struggled to raise attendance, and the combining of operational costs is expected to offset this lack of desired progress. Cedar Fair could only claim a 1 percent attendance increase in the last year, while Six Flags fared better with a 16 percent increase in the third quarter of 2023 — this despite self-inflicted wounds stemming from a new pricing strategy that’s left many longtime guests frustrated to the point of turning away.
Despite the two companies having a combined 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, there will be very little geographical overlap — the main exception being the Northeast, where Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, New Jersey) operates within a relatively short distance of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom (Allentown, Pennsylvania), and California, where Knott’s Berry Farm (Buena Park) and Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia) compete in the Los Angeles market, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo) and California’s Great America (Santa Clara) do business in the Bay area. With news of this evolving, there is no word on the Northern California parks owing to last year’s announcement by Cedar Fair that it would be shuttering the theme park within a period of 11 years. It is also too soon to have other questions answered, such as the merger of season pass programs or the retention of property names.
While both boards have already approved the merger to help make sure the deal closes in the first half of 2024, Six Flags shareholders will still need to approve the merger. If approved, they will receive 0.5800 shares of stock in the new company — to be called Six Flags and trade under the “FUN” ticker symbol — for every share currently held, giving them approximately 48.8% of the new entity; meanwhile Cedar Fair shareholders will receive one share for every currently held share and own approximately 51.2%. Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman will retain his title, while Six Flags President and CEO Selim Bassoul will assume the role of executive chairman. The newly formed board will include six each from the companies’ current boards, establish a new headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, and retain financial and administrative operations in Sandusky, Ohio — home of Cedar Fair’s flagship property, Cedar Point.
ACE News will continue reporting on this as it develops in the coming months.
— Rob Ascough, ACE News Editor
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