Six Flags makes an offer to purchase Cedar Fair?

Maverick00 said:
I saw some comments how they think Cedar Fair may be looking into selling a *couple* parks to Six Flags, and it has been blown out of proportion to include the whole chain.

On a real note, what advantage would Cedar Fair have to do doing the deal?

Because, in the painful reality, Cedar Fair is just a sock puppet for the major investors in the company. If they received a profitable enough offer from the Chinese Government to sell the entire chain to be torn down and used for a mass of low-income housing, the board would sell in a heartbeat.

Nope.

https://s2.q4cdn.com/170666959/files/doc_financials/annual/2018/FUN-2018-Form-10-K.pdf

Tilt-a-Whirl said:
Nope.

https://s2.q4cdn.com/170666959/files/doc_financials/annual/2018/FUN-2018-Form-10-K.pdf

Which of those 80 pages does your ‘nope’ refer too?

Cedar Fair, L.P.

One Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky, Ohio 44870

(Address of principal executive offices)

Cedar Fair, L.P. (together with its affiliated companies, the “Partnership”) is a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership formed in 1987 and managed by Cedar Fair Management, Inc., an Ohio corporation (the “General Partner”), whose shares are held by an Ohio trust. The Partnership is one of the largest regional amusement park operators in the world and owns eleven amusement parks, two separately gated outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and four hotels.

Then there's just doing your stock homework...

Cedar Fair, L.P., doing business as the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded Master Limited Partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. (from multiple stock and investor sites...)

I never thought I’d reach the day where we’re actually arguing over where the headquarters of the company are. Seriously. I can’t believe it’s even being discussed.

The semantics of where the headquarters are located is definitely the most important part of this, so I'm glad we're clarifying that.

Cedar Fair has just canceled a conference they were attending today, that is not good news at all for the people that want Cedar Point to stay Cedar Fair!

Or it could just mean they don't want to be bombarded with questions about it.

cptedsdisciple2 said:

I am all for it. Cedar Fair has limited its appeal so much for non-coaster fans, I would love to see this. Six Flags turned Geauga Lake into the world's biggest park. Cedar Fair ruined it. I'd love to see new owners with a more inclusive, less sanctimonious, less greed-based culture. The current suits need to realize that they are not the only people who have an idea about how to run a theme park.

SF ruined GL and started nailing the coffin shut in 2000 when the park was Flagged and became SFO. Sure it was exciting but GL was never meant to be that huge destination park, and when they purchased SWO that sealed the deal even more. Attendance nose dived then and CF couldn't recover it. (I worked there during all this and saw it all first hand)

SF buying ALL of the CF chain would be horrible for so many reasons. Maybe if they bought a park or two CF wanted to unload like Valleyfair or MiA. It would reduce competition and you'd see the SF clone strategy take over the CF parks. Hello Larson Loops and S&S 4D freespins. Gone would be world class additions like Orion, Fury 325, etc.. There would be no need when you have no competition.

SF would ruin everything, ads would be plastered everywhere, Breakers would look like a Motel 6 but covered in ads and Fatheads of Batman. CP would literally be ruined within 5 years.

Thabto said:

Or it could just mean they don't want to be bombarded with questions about it.

Oh yeah, god forbid someone gets asked a couple of questions about something as major as another company buying them. The horror!

i just created an account to say a couple things;

^that hitler gag was hilarious

^the "heaven point" burn was also hilarious

and most importantly I BEG THE POWERS THAT BE, DO NOT LET THIS SALE (err..."merger") GO THROUGH!!

Well I'm down here in Virginia. If your telling me that For A Hypothetical $200 Platinum Pass I could get into Carowinds, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Six Flags Great Adventure, Magic Mountain and Knotts, plus Cedar Point?????. Sign me up!!!!!!!!

Or buy/merge the companies, and close kings dominion and send those rides to SIx flags America in Maryland and make it a destination park for the Whole DMV area!!! (kings dominion is dying down in Richmond) Carowinds and Bush gardens is killing them now

Or send i305, Avalance, and twisted timbers to Cedar Point.....!!!!!!

Jwig- How is Kings Dominion dying?

Maverick00 said:

I saw some comments how they think Cedar Fair may be looking into selling a *couple* parks to Six Flags, and it has been blown out of proportion to include the whole chain.

I initially saw a post pertaining to Carowinds being bought by Six Flags. So, there may be some truth to this idea. It wouldn't be totally unbelievable for Cedar Fair to stay in existence with just Cedar Point or maybe a handful of parks.

If they are selling parks, they should sell the parks they don't care about, like Michigan's Adventure. Hasn't had a new ride since 1992.

Cedar Fair has done so much for Carowinds since purchasing it, trying to turn it into a destination park, I can't see them parting with it (at least I hope not). As other have mentioned, the neglected parks like MiA and Valleyfair I could see being sold.

PyroKinesis09 said:

If they are selling parks, they should sell the parks they don't care about, like Michigan's Adventure. Hasn't had a new ride since 1992.

I guess Shivering Timbers, Thunderhawk, Grand Rapids, their flying scooters, Mad Mouse, Zach's Zoomer and their new Planet Snoopy don't count. Or all their waterpark additions.

Wells Fargo meets with Cedar Fair management and says the acquisition is "highly unlikely."

Source

WolfBobs said:
I guess Shivering Timbers, Thunderhawk, Grand Rapids, their flying scooters, Mad Mouse, Zach's Zoomer and their new Planet Snoopy don't count. Or all their waterpark additions.

Hyperbole. Look it up.

Walt said:
Wells Fargo meets with Cedar Fair management and says the acquisition is "highly unlikely."

Interesting. Still no word from FUN or SIX (which does not surprise me for corporate governance reasons), but someone *finally* actually bothered to talk to someone who might have actual information...

The article lays out good, sound financial reasons for the merger or acquisition to not happen. I think there are also very good non-financial reasons, which we saw play out back when Apollo Global was trying to take over.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.