Six Flags and Cedar Fair to Merge

[MikePat]

So to put things into perspective, someone made a Six Flags and Cedar Fair Merger Map.

Red = Six Flags
Blue = Cedar Fair

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Not a fan of this merger for the same reason I wasn't a fan of the attempted SWP-CF merger. There's no way this plays out that doesn't result in parks being shuttered, especially parks like Michigan's Adventure that are the only theme park in the region. I'm not intimately familiar with the financial health of the two companies, but I wasn't under the impression either one was in great shape, and them merging together is unlikely to fix that--just ask Kmart and Sears. What's worse, now if the company goes under it'll take down the SF and the CF parks with it.

That said, I wouldn't mind having a single annual pass that's good for 42 parks lol.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Schlitterbahn New Braunfels is easily a contender for most confusing layout in a theme park.

Looking at some of these parks either company has, yeah, I'm not exactly sure where some of these parks like Frontier City or Darien Lake fit into the future. How many of these parks is the company going to want to operate when some parks likely won't grow and maintenance costs will only increase as rides age?

 

[Donald Razorduck]

I hope it works out but....I'm not a fan of mergers at this point.

I think we need to be shrinking companies not combining more

That's all great and good when money is cheap and easy to get. That's no the case anymore. It's expensive, if you can get it in a tightening credit market as banks are stressed as is.

 

[Jerroddragon]

That's all great and good when money is cheap and easy to get. That's no the case anymore. It's expensive, if you can get it in a tightening credit market as banks are stressed as is.

The system is suppose to be

You make a Product/service and if your Product/service makes profits then it continues on if not you fail and the public is saying they don't care for what you are selling, your product cost too much etc.

This system now rewards companies from instead of innovating they just merge and become too big to fail and get a bail out when it's the leadership being unable to turn a profit

I'm just not a fan if Six Flags can't keep people coming in its on them, I used to go but the amount of rides down when ever I went along with bad ops where lines were insanely long made me lose interest (along with many area's of the park being ugly and not kept well)

 

[GAcoaster]

Lance did a pretty good analysis of the merger for BlooLoop, and it's worth a read:

Cedar Fair & Six Flags merger: what will this new mega theme park chain mean?

Lance Hart explores what the proposed Six Flags and Cedar Fair merger will mean for the attractions industry in the US.

blooloop.com

 

[Elijah Abrams]

So to put things into perspective, someone made a Six Flags and Cedar Fair Merger Map.

Red = Six Flags
Blue = Cedar Fair

I can definitely see some parks in both chains getting sold off, in order to reduce antitrust. Wonder if Paramount Global can acquire some of those parks? I bet they'd love to get back into the theme park business.

 

[GAcoaster]

Paramount has no interest in running parks again.

I honestly see no anti-trust issues with the parks they have. The ones with overlap also have outside competition. They may decide to sell some off to raise cash and reduce debts, but that may only be a couple of smaller parks.

 

[GAcoaster]

The Department of Justice has asked for additional information regarding the merger:

DOJ seeks additional info from Six Flags, Cedar Fair on $8 billion merger

The second request from DOJ in relation to the Six Flags and Cedar Fair merger comes at a time when deals in the U.S. are facing anti-trust scrutiny from regulators, as well as consumer interest groups. Six Flags and Cedar Fair announced a merger in November 2023 in a deal that would value the...

finance.yahoo.com

 

[GAcoaster]

Cedar Fair and Six Flags Announce Senior Management Team That Will Lead Combined Company Following Completion of Planned Merger of Equals

SANDUSKY, Ohio & ARLINGTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN) (“Cedar Fair”) and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX) (“Six Flags”), today announced the senior management team that will lead the combined company following the completion of their previously...

investors.sixflags.com

As previously announced, upon closing of the transaction, Richard Zimmerman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Fair, will serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Selim Bassoul, President and Chief Executive Officer of Six Flags, will serve as Executive Chairman of the combined company’s Board of Directors.

After completion of the Mergers, the following leaders will report to Zimmerman in the combined company:

• Tim Fisher, Chief Operating Officer (currently in same position at Cedar Fair)
• Brian Witherow, Chief Financial Officer (currently in same position at Cedar Fair)
• Brian Nurse, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary (currently in same position at Cedar Fair)
• Christian Dieckmann, Chief Strategy Officer (currently in same position at Cedar Fair)
• Gary Mick, Chief Integration Officer (currently Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Six Flags)

“We are fortunate to have a proven team of leaders who bring decades of park operating experience and significant expertise in integrating businesses and achieving synergy targets for the combined company,” said Zimmerman. “Their insights and complementary skill sets will be instrumental as we combine two of North America’s iconic amusement park companies and forge a new future together.”

So, basically Cedar Fair is running it all post merger, with just one Six Flags top level person as Chief Integration Officer, a role which most likely just a limited time.

 

[SkiBum]

Cedar Fair and Six Flags Announce Senior Management Team That Will Lead Combined Company Following Completion of Planned Merger of Equals

SANDUSKY, Ohio & ARLINGTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN) (“Cedar Fair”) and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX) (“Six Flags”), today announced the senior management team that will lead the combined company following the completion of their previously...

investors.sixflags.com

So, basically Cedar Fair is running it all post merger, with just one Six Flags top level person as Chief Integration Officer, a role which most likely just a limited time.

That's a positive. I wonder how the park presidents from Six Flags will fare as some of them aren't that wonderful. This whole deal fills me with dread for the impact on Kings Island. I've been going since 1975 and saw the impact of the various owners (Paramount was the worst).

 

[AlexanderMBush]

https://investors.sixflags.com/overview/default.aspx

The merger has been completed.

 

[MikePat]

Happy merger day...

 

[Jerroddragon]

Bring on a new Super AP level in 2025

I've never had a Knotts Season pass...I might finally get roped into getting one

 

[GAcoaster]

I'm eagerly awaiting word on annual passes. If the past is any indication, for the rest of this year they may honor existing passes sold by Six Flags and Cedar Fair between the brands. That would be a good will gesture to their passholders as they brace them for the upgrade at a higher price next year, and also bring in much needed turnstile clicks and revenues with people visiting parks they weren't able to before. This summer seems to be soft industry wide, and they could probably use the increased traffic and spending. Either that or start selling 2025 passes soon (August/September) so people get the rest of 2024 and all of 2025 at all parks. That would drive attendance for fall/winter events across the board.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

I wish I could be a fly on the wall as the Cedar Fair guys take a look at the Six Flags books for the first time. Yep guys, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

 

[GAcoaster]

I wish I could be a fly on the wall as the Cedar Fair guys take a look at the Six Flags books for the first time. Yep guys, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

They've seen them long ago as part of the due diligence.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

^ Not the ones from this last quarter lol

And even if by chance they have, I still wanted to be there. They have historically been a mess.

 

[DeadSexeh]

If the past is any indication, for the rest of this year they may honor existing passes sold by Six Flags and Cedar Fair between the brands. That would be a good will gesture to their passholders as they brace them for the upgrade at a higher price next year, and also bring in much needed turnstile clicks and revenues with people visiting parks they weren't able to before.

This would be a terrible idea. Most people don't know they are merged so they should us that to their advantage. Wait until you can get all your park more uniformed. However the most important reason to not do that is that ot sets a precedent for the customer that the new mega pass should be the same price as before. The higher price will hurt but if you can announce it with the price they want and to be able to say now with access to X amount of new parks, that would allow them to justify the price hike.

 

[GAcoaster]

Most passholders know all about the merger and are eager to visit the "new" parks. All you have to do is look at the passholder groups on FB to see there would be a lot of new traffic if they did this. And, the passholders already know what to expect-- they've all seen SF horror stories.