A Six Flags Bluff?

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DBJ said:
It's an interesting theory. Snyder was able to use the stock dive to pick up more shares.

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No way. Six Flags shares didn't tank because of the six parks on the bidding block. It was because the company would miss its guidance and that would place it in default of its debt covenant. See "Blockbuster" over the past two years to see why the market freaks over things like that.

And as for Lance's theory, he's usually got some great things to say but I think he's out to lunch this particular time. MSEP and SFMM are two entirely different critters. Disney teases all the time. It's why "Disney Classics" go into the vault and are retired from retail. SFMM is entirely different.

If Eisner (at the time, the CEO) had said, "okay, we're exploring the sale of MSEP, so bid up" and received a lot of interest, you can rest assured that all of those fancy lights, Pete's Dragon, and the Baroque Hoedown organ would be in a crate going to some rich prince in Saudi Arabia.

Shapiro isn't teasing. Every real estate developer in the Valencia area and a few private equity firms and even fewer amusement park operators are going to be pricing out what SFMM is worth. You really think that Shapiro is going to turn down a developer offering $200 million for the land only in favor of a $100 million offer from Blackstone or any other private equity firm looking to keep it running as a park?

And more to Lance's logic, the moment you hear a park is on the block that brings season ticket sales to a screeching halt. Sure, folks may come for the final weekend (like Cypress Gardens) but it's a marketing killer.

I'm hearing down here in Burbank, the offers are already coming in. Shapiro/Snyder will have their pick of the litter when deciding which offer to take. This isn't a joke or a ploy. This is the real deal. As real as the Astroworld sale, as real as the SFO and Europe market sales. And at this point IMO, the park could fall on either side.