Do you think Cedar Fair would ever consider buying Six Flags

I have been reading a lot on line about the troubles of the company that owns and operates Six Flags Amusement Parks. The they are on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. So with that said do you think that Cedar Fair may consider buying the falling amusement park chain or even some of there parks? Do you think in the end Six Flags could become no more? Just a little curious..
Let me know what you all think...

Cedar Fair certainly wants to be a "mega-chain park", and acquiring Six Flags would definitely eliminate their main competition for regional amusement park attractions.

I think it is realllly far fetched, and the company could file bankruptcy and continue to operate and just reorganize their debt.

To eliminate debt / get quick cash I think Six Flags would sell individual parks or close down parks that do not pull their weight.

There has never been a better time to become an amusement park mega chain though....

Don't you think Cedar Fair became a "mega-chain" after the Paramount acquisition? I believe they are still working at getting those parks to the level where Cedar Fair wants them to be at. I highly doubt Cedar Fair would be looking at buying any more parks in the near future.

I would think the only viable reality would be the purchase of a very limited amount (e.g., one) of strategically placed parks.

Wouldn't bank on it though; CF still has huge debt from the Paramount purchase. In other words, to answer the post, no.

^ Oh yeah, I had forgotten about the debt that CF was in from the acquisition.

I can see CF going after a park or two, but certainly not the whole chain. I'd love to see them buy Texas or Georgia, mainly because that's two areas we dont have a park nearby.

I don't see Cedar Fair purchasing any additional parks in the near future. They passed up Hard Rock park at $35 million (and again at $25 million), which is roughly what they paid for Michigan's Adventure, IIRC. Certainly HRP is no Cedar Point, Kings Island, or Canada's Wonderland, but it will pull 800,000-1.2mill visitors per year. If they didn't snap at that offer, I don't think they are going to spend $100+ million to pick up a Six Flags park unless it was one of the legacy parks, and I think even that is a stretch.

Instead, I think you'll see CF try to pay down the debt while making cautious expansions at the newly acquired properties. I forsee a significant expansion in the way of a hotel for Canada's Wonderland, and Carowinds and Kings Island also hold a lot of promise for additional revenue growth with the right investments. Until you see the corporate debt more in the $300-500 million range, I don't think you'll see any more park acquisitions for at least 3-5 years.

With the GL disaster I seriously doubt that would happen. CF would have to invest far too much $$ to get the SF parks up to CF standards.

Happy CF got the Paramount parks-especially KI! :)

Jo

Texas and Georgia will never be sold to anyone. SF doesnt own those two parks, a local partnership owns the first two parks in the chain.

In what universe would that be a good idea? Cedar Fair doesn't "compete" in a meaningful way with Six Flags in any market, except maybe LA and the bay area.

CF and SF arguably compete over the northern Kentucky market -- SFKK vs. Kings Island. A lot of Kentuckians make the trek to Mason every summer. But that's the only other example I can think of. Regardless, CF isn't going to be buying Six Flags, in whole or in part, or any other other park for the next 3 -5 years, minimum.

If/when they succeed in digesting the Paramount acquisition debt, then we'll see.

Six flags America is only 100.72 miles away,and 1 hour and 47 mins from Kings Dominion. I would say that was close enough to compete.

Ensign Smith said:
CF and SF arguably compete over the northern Kentucky market -- SFKK vs. Kings Island. A lot of Kentuckians make the trek to Mason every summer. But that's the only other example I can think of. Regardless, CF isn't going to be buying Six Flags, in whole or in part, or any other other park for the next 3 -5 years, minimum.

If/when they succeed in digesting the Paramount acquisition debt, then we'll see.

Even Holiday World managers make fun of SFKK, saying that they don't consider it real competition. One of their senior level managers told me that they get far more competition from Kings Island and Six Flags St. Louis than they do from SFKK, even though SFKK is their closest competition geographically.

I would venture to say that SFKK is to Kings Island what Darien Lake is to Cedar Point. No real competition.

It would never happen, CF is probably about the right size now in terms of number of parks they now operate. Some of you seem to have forgotten about the Geauga Lake deal, and look how that turned out.

the ffej man said:
Six flags America is only 100.72 miles away,and 1 hour and 47 mins from Kings Dominion. I would say that was close enough to compete.

Not at all. Everyone I know here in the eastern/northern VA area goes to either Kings Dominion or BGE. BGE is their only competition. I couldn't even name one person that lives anywhere near here that would prefer SFA over KD because SFA is a crap park.

FSAlex said:
I would venture to say that SFKK is to Kings Island what Darien Lake is to Cedar Point. No real competition.

I'v never even heard of Darien Lake, and I didn't know what SFKK was till the one girl's foot got chopped off.

Not happening. CP already has a debt load to pay off, they don't need another.

kylepark said:
It would never happen, CF is probably about the right size now in terms of number of parks they now operate. Some of you seem to have forgotten about the Geauga Lake deal, and look how that turned out.

All public companies have to keep growing to stay alive. I have no doubt that Cedar Fair will continue to add parks in the future, they'll just be very cautious about how they do it and they'll only do it after the debt is paid down and the "project parks" (Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds) have matured a little more.

I don't know if they would at the current time! It sounds like they are trying to gain their profit from their pusrchases of the paramont parks!

FSAlex said:
All public companies have to keep growing to stay alive. I have no doubt that Cedar Fair will continue to add parks in the future...

You can still have growth without aquiring another park, by adding to your existing properties. Just look what has happened to CP in the last 25 years. A few examples include the addition of water park, three hotels, and Lighthouse Point.