Jana Partners wants Six Flags to sell

Wow is Managing Partner Scott Ostfeld straight out of central casting.

Sell to whom? Who is looking to buy with the private credit markets tight and economic indicators looking horrible.

Possible that they didn't like who was chosen to replace Zimmerman and Basoul and now are trying this play to get who they wanted?

I don't think it's any more complicated than they're looking for short term financial gain.

We are down to one last CF board member… and the new Board Chair went along with Bossoul on much of the wreckage , so I understand the push there. Alot of the new board is better then it was a a year and did get Reilly.

Selling: They just sold parks, closed SFA and in middle of bids for it, and are winding down CGA. After jettisoning most of the leased parks, and the non core midwest. I don’t think there is really any meat on the bone left, that would not be hugely detrimental, it also looks like going to be crazy hot summer, on top of the 250th, and hopefully the new app and system integration means things are smoother,so things are looking good for a rebound.

Richard Haddrill now Six Flags board chairman. Board expanding to 11 members. When Jennifer Mason's term ends, the board will revert back to 10.

https://investors.sixflags....fault.aspx

I suspect any serious buyer would be looking to liquidate the company ASAP, selling off the most valuable real estate, and also the rides at firesale prices to any interested domestic or overseas parks.

The problem is, I don’t think you can liquidate the company and get enough to cover the secured debt. If that’s true, there’s nothing left for equity (JANA)

I suspect, as others have said, that what JANA wants is the company to enter into some form of sale leaseback, and siphon off whatever excess there is as a dividend. Although to be honest I don’t see how you even make that work.

Either way it’s bad for our hobby. REAL bad

There are parks like Kings Island that I'd say are worth far more as a functioning park than the underlying land. It's one of their most successful parks and land in Ohio is cheap. But who do you sell it to if you liquidate Six Flags?

The sale request was probably a if you don't do X, Y, or Z you need to sell statement.

Looks like they got part of their board restructure.

CreditWh0re:

I suspect, as others have said, that what JANA wants is the company to enter into some form of sale leaseback, and siphon off whatever excess there is as a dividend. Although to be honest I don’t see how you even make that work.

Yeah this was always what they wanted.

There was never going to be some natural, quick 20%+ stock jump just from “strategic changes” over a short period of time. It’s laughable to think this stock was going to do anything in a 5 month off‑season. And the PR JANA is pumping out sounds like they are shocked a full turnaround over a short off season didn’t happen

This was always about the sale‑leaseback. Quick cash. Quick stock pop. Then dump it.

The board knows this is a bad deal long term. We already saw parks sold off and they generated lower than expected returns. Those were for full functioning parks not even sale‑leasebacks, which would get even less! You get a little upfront cash and then you lock the parks into absolutely awful long‑term leases.

That’s why I suspect the current the board and leadership is a hard no on this. And that’s also why JANA wants board members who agree with the cash grab. They got in around $25, and now the stock is just hovering around $17. Nobody is buying the whole company anywhere near $25 now. So their best remaining play is forcing a sale‑leaseback to bump the stock enough so they can bail.

Sale‑leasebacks are temporary sugar highs for these groups to make money on paper. Almost never a good long‑term strategy, especially for an operator that actually needs flexibility to run parks. JANA is a scourge, and honestly I hope they get fleeced either way.

read into this what you will:

in today's news:

Magic Mountain takes serious write-down

Yeah yeah, might just be a non-cash, accounting rule, blah blah. However, that's a huge effing number, and if that's your new basis, then any future offer to sell is based on that. That might give leverage to some voices who might look for a "quick profit".

This is not a benign turn of events.

Joe E.:

JANA is a scourge, and honestly I hope they get fleeced either way.

I'n honestly hoping that the recent increase in stock price, up to aound $19 might be enough for JANA to GTFO of this investment. The stock was much lower since JANA got into it, so a rise to these levels has to be an improvement for them, although not exactly near the $24-$26 they likely paid.

That said, I think that rise in price is because people are expecting something to happen after the recent board shuffle. (Again, that's not a good thing for our hobby)

For everyone else, this is not financial advice, but for the life of me I have no idea why the stock is up in the face of $100/bbl oil (WTI). That does not bode well for regional theme parks. Yeah, people might not go to Disney, and instead think regionally, but they also aren't driving any further than they have to. While I think the company is in a better place than it was, the past proves that people don't spend money when oil is over $100/bbl/

Magic Mountain alone saw $533 million removed from the books. Other major parks, including Six Flags Great America ($192.8 million), Six Flags Over Georgia ($187.9 million), Six Flags Fiesta Texas ($103.8 million), Six Flags Great Adventure ($97.4 million), Six Flags Mexico ($89.3 million), Six Flags Over Texas ($86.8 million) and Schlitterbahn ($50.7 million) saw reductions.

So the legacy Six Flags parks were massively overvalued in the merger? You don't say ...

This isn't really news. They announced the $1.5 billion write-down in February. This is just the write-down amounts broken down by park which was included in Six Flags annual financial statements filed in February.

As further described in Note 5, the Company tested the Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags Magic Mountain,
Six Flags Mexico, Six Flags New England, Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Over Texas (“Former Six Flags reporting units”), and the Schlitterbahn
reporting unit, as well as the Six Flags trade name for impairment in the third quarter of 2025. These reporting units and trade name were tested for impairment
due to a decline in estimated future cash flows as a result of revenue and earnings not meeting expectations through the more seasonally significant third
quarter, as well as due to a more significant, sustained decline in the Company's share price through the third quarter when compared to industry peers.
Accordingly, the Company concluded the estimated fair value of the Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags
Magic Mountain, Six Flags Mexico, Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, and the Schlitterbahn reporting units no longer exceeded their carrying values
resulting in impairment charges recorded during the third quarter of 2025 of $103.8 million, $97.4 million, $192.8 million, $533.7 million, $89.3 million, $187.9
million, $86.8 million and $50.7 million, respectively. Management also concluded the estimated fair value of the Six Flags trade name no longer exceeded its
carrying value resulting in an impairment charge recorded during the third quarter of 2025 of $169.3 million.

https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.clou...0ff654.pdf

Don't expect book value to be a significant factor in terms of determining sales price of any parks (if/when there are future sales). Price would be based on a multiple of EBITDA. Decreased estimated future cash flows were the reason for the write-down which would impact any future sales prices. But lower book value doesn't make a sale any more likely. Profit for investors is determined based on difference between sales price and basis in the investment. Book value of the company's assets isn't part of that calculation.