Cedar Fair and Six Flags merger to complete July 1, mostly Cedar Fair executives to lead new company
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From the press release on closing:
Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN) (“Cedar Fair”) and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX) (“Six Flags”), today announced that they notified the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) that the closing of Cedar Fair and Six Flags’ previously announced merger of equals (the “Mergers”) is expected to occur on July 1, 2024 (the “Expected Closing Date”). The completion of the Mergers is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of a number of conditions set forth in the merger agreement relating to the Mergers, including the satisfaction of regulatory conditions.
Six Flags today additionally announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special dividend of $1.53 per share of Six Flags common stock. The dividend is payable on July 1, 2024 to stockholders of record of Six Flags as of June 28, 2024 who hold their shares through the closing of the Mergers. The special dividend is conditioned on the closing of the Mergers and is being declared in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement. Accordingly, the record date and payment date may change based on the actual closing date of the Mergers.
Until the Mergers are complete, Cedar Fair’s units and Six Flags’ common stock will continue to trade on the NYSE. Upon the closing of the Mergers, (i) Cedar Fair’s units, which currently trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “FUN” and (ii) Six Flags’ common stock, which currently trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “SIX,” will cease to be listed on the NYSE following the closing of the Mergers and will each be deregistered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Immediately following the closing of the Mergers, the combined company will be renamed “Six Flags Entertainment Corporation” and trading of the combined company’s common stock on the NYSE is expected to begin on the day following the Expected Closing Date, July 2, 2024, under the ticker symbol “FUN.”
From the leadership press release:
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 announced merger of equals (the “Mergers”).
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.”
The closing of the Mergers is expected to occur on July 1, 2024, subject to satisfaction or waiver of a number of conditions set forth in the merger agreement, including the satisfaction of regulatory conditions. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will operate under the name Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, trade under the ticker symbol “FUN” on the NYSE, and be structured as a C Corporation. The combined company will be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will maintain significant finance and administrative operations in Sandusky, Ohio.
In some cases (e.g. Carowinds), I think these may be hotels operated by some other company on-site. I assume New Six Flags or Whatever (NSFW) is making money on a land lease and licensing as the "official" or "on-site" hotel.
[Corrected below - thanks]
hambone:
New Six Flags or Whatever (NSFW)
This would be some genius marketing. I bet web traffic would be at an all time high.
After we spent the day at Holiday World we went to King’s Island. For the average person it is just another day at your local park. But for those few who experience both, the hospitality differences are striking, and significantly affect your park experience. King’s Island offers a dixie cup for water, fewer bins to place your stuff along side the rides while encouraging locker purchases, and they allow for pay-to-cut services. Holiday World is free parking, free drinks, and the amazing water park is even free with admission?!
I remember when parking was $10. Now at Great America it is $42. Parking prices are going down after this merge? Don’t bet on it. Now that the coaster wars are dead, the competition has been eliminated. How is this a good thing?
When you have the McDonalds of amusement parks (like Six Flags) take over a park like Knobels it is not hard to see where this is going.
Outside of Cedar Point and maybe Knott's, I'm pretty sure all of the current Cedar Fair parks are dry park/water park pay one price tickets. Holiday World does offer the drinks, sunscreen and parking - but a day ticket to Holiday World and Cedar Point is just about neck and neck as far as price, and a Cedar Point Gold Pass (that includes the waterpark but does not include all other Cedar Fair parks) is half the price of the Holiday World standard season pass. Adding the all season drinks is $35. Still less. Add the season long dining and you're spending considerably less for a season at CP than you would at Holiday World if you bought food at the park. Don't buy the CP dining plan and don't buy food at Holiday World and CP is still $65 cheaper for an entire season even with the all season drink plan.
Remember that all of the freebies at Holiday World aren't necessarily free. They are simply absorbed into the one day admission. Do I think Holiday World day tickets and season passes are overpriced? No way. Do I think Cedar Point season passes are incredibly underpriced? Yes. And if you are looking at overall audience, ride lineup and park offerings - Cedar Point should cost more than Holiday World in the same way that Holiday World should cost more than Indiana Beach.
Now - do I think the merger is going to 'do good' by the current lineup of legacy Cedar Fair parks? I'm not optimistic, but I also know it's already been a downhill slide in the past few years. Just as long as we don't have Raptor: The Ride, Gemini Left Twix Right Twix and Beast: Sponsored by Takis, I guess I'll live.
And I suppose I'll stop at Six Flags over Elysburg and check it out. It's on the way.
But to their point, it's a difference in hospitality. This is fundamentally the thing that CF leadership has forgotten (or never understood). The product that builds loyal, repeat customers is feelings. I recently read a story by a restauranteur that emphasized this. The guy was running a super fancy restaurant with "the best" food, winning awards and stuff. A customer called in ahead of time, indicating that his father was coming, and he hates "fancy" food, and just wanted a steak. So they ran out and got a nice cut, and that's what they served him. The father left the restaurant declaring that it was the best meal he ever had, and I know it wasn't because of the food, it's the way they made him feel.
That's not a perfect example, because it was about one person, but the intent is what I'm talking about. You have to figure out the best way to make as many people as possible feel like they're having the best time ever. Transactions and upgrades and "deals" have nothing to do with feeling the best time. Even Disney took a step away from that with Lightning Lane over FastPass, because the experience isn't as good (though they'll never relinquish that boost in per capita spending).
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
I think your example is perfectly relevant. Perception is reality.
There is a difference between a business appreciating your business and appreciating your money. Sadly it appears that Cedar Fair and Disney, to some extent, are moving from the former to the latter.
I'm sure they do but I have zero experience with that branch of Disney. I've been on one cruise in my life (Princess cruise to Alaska) and don't really have much of a desire to go on another until I am retired. Hoping to take a cruise around the world at that point.
RC Madness:
When you have the McDonalds of amusement parks (like Six Flags) take over a park like Knobels it is not hard to see where this is going.
It's near everything?
Jeff:
The product that builds loyal, repeat customers is feelings.
Zingerman's does a great service-leadership course that speaks exactly to this. One of the better lines: "No one wakes up in the morning and says, 'Today, I'm going to buy a $20 sandwich.'"
Yet, they sell a lot of $20 sandwiches. Hint: It's not just the sandwich.
I spent plenty of time in hospitality at one point. One common statement used is that people don’t remember what you did, but they do remember how you made them feel.
Regarding Holiday World, I was talking to Paula some many years ago while in the park, and she said that one of the first things you do when you invite guests to your home is welcome them with a smile and offer them a cold drink. Which is exactly what the park does.
The worst thing is rolling up to a park and being robbed for parking, it sets a poor tone for the rest of the day. Parks should understand this, stop breaking out all these charges, charge a price for the gate, and include the required stuff, maybe not drinks, or food, but at bare minimum the parking fees. Give a good experience, but that isn’t necessarily the driving force behind what they do each day now is it?
Cedar Point does offer a “bundle” ticket that includes parking and drinks for $50pp for one day, $80 for two. That might be limited to Michigan residents, but it might not.
The gate price at Holiday World is higher because you know you are paying for hospitality, that reliable good feeling you get when guests are treated well. But you end up paying more at King's Island because of parking prices, and the different ways they slide in fees. They are up front with hospitality not being part of their package, because they know they can get your money through back handed approaches. More likely to come back when it is the only park chain around.
The point Jeff makes about building loyalty by treating your local guests well is easier for smaller parks to achieve. Which is why monopolies are not better for consumers. That good feeling gets lost when it is just a bunch of corporate managers crunching the numbers. They can afford not to care if a heat wave hits few parks. They stick to their dixie cup of water policy while Holliday World hands out water bottles.
RC Madness:
treating your local guests well is easier for smaller parks to achieve.
Why?
why should larger chains be allowed to have poor service? They don’t have to…
Disney/Uni may not be perfect but they are magnitudes larger than cedar fair flags and their service is also far superior.
Last summer I found the Holiday World staff to be disinterested and at times hostile to guests. Maybe they are putting their best foot forward during Hollywood Nights but I certainly didn’t have the experience being described in this thread.
Why should they be allowed to care less about guests having a positive experience? Well, if you don't like the services at a Six Flags park, you can go to a Cedar Fair park instead. Now it does not matter, they're all under the same management. Then you are just deciding to go to a thrill park or not.
Disney Parks are different in that the profits made from lockers, parking, water bottles, pay-to-cut, provide insignificant profit gains compared to their bottom line because it is Disney. So much less incentive to rely on cheap gimmicks, ways to gouge customers to turn a profit. Why fly to Orlando or LA just to get treated like crap? Its the Disney brand, you pay for that hospitality that up front cost at the gate as folks mentioned before.
As for grumpy ride operators, luck of the draw I guess. I would be surprised if Holiday World was more tolerant of that than other parks. Hostility towards guests goes against their reputation for hospitality.
With the exception of charging for lockers at individual rides, Disney is engaging in each and every one of the "cheap gimmicks" on your list. If you go to Disney and walk away thinking they aren't looking for as many ways as possible to separate you from your dollar, you're going to a different Disney park from me. And I'm not faulting them for that any more than I would Six Flags or Cedar Fair. Is Disney doing more to make you feel better about it? Probably, but I can assure you that they are nickel and diming you at every turn.
RC Madness:
Well, if you don't like the services at a Six Flags park, you can go to a Cedar Fair park
Only if you live in the Bay Area, LA, or Baltimore/DC. Normal guests don't travel to regional theme parks.
Hi
Disney doesn't nickle and dime? Here's a non-exhaustive list off the top of my head:
- Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes
- Dining packages for preferred seating at World of Color, Disneyland parade, Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom
- Overpriced rooms for the privilege of early entry
- Limited edition souvenirs
- Park hopping
- Character dining at buffets
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