Accounting Help - CoasterBuzz

I have a term paper due in my accounting class, where we have to read form 10-K and write a paper about the financial statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, the ratios (like the quick ratio), and so on. While reading page 21 of the Six Flags form, they mention a lawsuit in December of '98 for $197.3 million against SFEC, SF Theme Parks Inc, SFOG, and TWE. Could someone please fill me in on what this case was over? I have read up to pg. 113, and haven't found any information. It may be towards the end, but there are still 141 pages before that happens.

***Quick tip - don't walk away from your printer, and don't automatically print out what professors ask for unless you know its less than 50 pages.

SFOG's park investors sued Time Warner (who owned the park at the time), alleging that TW devalued the park on purpose in various ways (one of which was not adding rides often enough). The investors won nearly half a billion dollars total. TW appealed the ruling, but the decision was upheld. However, the park's investors got that sum, not the park itself. I believe the investors are required to kick back a certain share of it every year.

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Go to the following link, has all of the stories explaining the case and the current outcome (the compensatory damages have been paid, but the punitive award is still on appeal).

http://www.playride.com/tug2sfog/lawsuit.html

*** This post was edited by gamndbndr 2/25/2003 8:19:23 AM ***

Is this the reason for the huge capital expansion at SFoG within the last few years?
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I could swear that I read an article a while back stating that a large capital expansion was in the works to appease investors. So yes...that's most likely one of (if not the) reasons.

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James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm (aka Sour Boy)

I would like to thank all of you for helping me with the information. I'll include this thread on the works cited page so if my professor wants, he can read more about it.

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"Hello, this is Moleman in the morning. Good Moleman to you. Today part four of our series of the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay."

This topic sure makes me glad I wasn't an accounting major ;)

No wonder my roommate was miserable.

Ehh...I was dreading having to take ACCT101 this quarter, but so far I'm still pulling an A and enjoying it quite a bit. Who knows how 102 will go next quarter though :o/

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James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm (aka Sour Boy)

That's funny, I am also going to have to do an accounting project comparing the statements of two companies. I picked Six Flags and Cedar Fair. At the end I have to do a presentation on the better investment, like I need the numbers to know that one.....

Trust me, when you take intermediate accounting, Mr. Daniels and Senor Cuervo will become your best friends.

KoaSteR - That's really freaky. My paper is, as the professor assigned it, "A Financial Case Analysis of Two Competing Companies." I had selected Six Flags and Cedar Fair. I had to check your profile to make sure that we weren't separated at birth. For your assignment, Form 10-K off the SEC website is helpful (use Edgar to find it), but only to a point. If, when you open it up on Word, it is 254 pages, only print up to 89. The balance sheet got cut-off the first time I printed it, so I had to print those pages up again. Starting at pg. 90, most of the information is interesting, yet dry. If you need the Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows, Income Statement, stock quotes, and the disclosure notes, it starts on pg. 26.

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"Hello, this is Moleman in the morning. Good Moleman to you. Today part four of our series of the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay."