Reuters is reporting that Six Flags has offered to buy Cedar Fair
Posted
Six Flags Entertainment Corp. has approached peer Cedar Fair LP with an acquisition offer, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Read more from Reuters.
+10 for Vater. I might suggest that instead of The Riddler, it would be Mr. Freeze: Outer Space Blast.
Coasterbuzz - Coaster enthusiasts, but so much more. We're the good ones.
OK. First I have to say: "no. no. That's not true. That's impossible! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! NOOOO!!!!!"
There. Now that I have that out of my system. I don't really see either company wanting to take on the debt load it would take to buy the other one out.
I also don't think there would be any monopoly concerns with this. The people that visit the parks are spending their discretionary income. Its about as far from an essential service as you can get.
A funny video on the subject.
https://www.captiongenerator.com/1531962/Hitler-Reacts-to-Six-Flags...Cedar-Fair
Dale from Dayton
Oh lord, I hate to think about this. I get the corporate benefits Six Flags would derive, but the idea of Cedar Point being a Six Flags park ...
Excuse me, I need to go buy a box of wine.
Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep.
--Fran Lebowitz
An unsolicited offer. Why would CF even consider it? Just tell them to pound sand.
Cedar Fair buying Paramount created a debt situation that took forever to get evened out. Six Flags buying Cedar Fair would probably cause bankruptcy, and if they somehow survived that debt, they'd be putting low-budget junk and unnecessary RMC conversions all over. Hell, they consider those Loop things to be coasters, RMC'd a GCI, and apparently don't want to build a B&M ever again...
Why would the SEC make a distinction between regional theme parks versus say a Disney park? They are part of the same market space. Disney and Universal together have more than 50% of the market share. Six Flags and Cedar Fair together would still likely be the third biggest player in the market.
As much as I think this is a terrible idea, I also think it's insanely unlikely. Both companies see about $1.4 billion annually in revenue, and if it's a cash and stock deal, how does SIX have any meaningful cash component without incurring a ton of debt?
A merger certainly seems in the realm of possibility, but the core operating principles of the two companies are vastly different, and in my mind, incompatible.
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Six Fkags parks specialize in hyped up short coasters and awful superhero theming. That’s it.
Their parks are poorly ran, poorly themed, poorly landscaped with very little live entertainment.
Cedar Fair has done an amazing job in recent years All of that would be undone
Remember the last time six flags over expanded? That ended up with AstroWorld been torn down so they could sell the land
Well it was a good run I guess, FUN while it lasted one might say...
Now pull those lab bars down tight and get ready to ride "The Beast, presented by GoDaddy!" ;(
Just in rare case corp. board members are surfing the pulse of the internet on this, I'll add my one cent to the pile...
I really really hope this does not happen. I love Cedar Fair parks. If I'm traveling through a city with one I make a point to stop. This year KI and CP where I picked up a gold pass for next year even though I live 500 miles away.
Great Adv which is an hour down the road and I pass the exit for all the time. I haven't been in a decade.
Don't do it.
^Funny, I drive by CP to go to Great Adventure as often as I can. Love my El Toro marathons for the last hour of every visit. If I had more free time, I would do that even more often. But then, Hersheypark and SFGAdv are my 2 favorite parks.
So, if this happens, does every Six Flags park get a Windseeker?
Hmm, lets see... A new ride rotation program...
Joker, the ride formerly known as Rougarou formerly known as Mantis formerly intended to be known as Banshee.
Goliath formerly known as Steel Vengence formerly known as Mean Streak...
Maxx Force, formerly known as Top Thrill Dragster just waiting to add an inversion...
Batman the Ride formerly known as Condor for the first year and previously known as Raptor...
Don't get me wrong, I like visiting Six Flags Parks and have fun at them, I sure hope this deal doesn't go through overall, as I just don't see improved guest experiences coming out of it.
The likely scenario (if there is one) is a merger and a blending of the executive talent of both chains with Zimmerman as likely CEO. I think many of us are still thinking 2003 Cedar Fair and Six Flags- the two chains have changed tremendously over the last seventeen years.
Yeah, and I would say having seen a lot of Six Flags' properties since the quality of atmosphere, character (Ads everywhere!), personality and guest service has declined since 2003. Not even considering the lack of creative new ride quality (minus a decent shortened RMC conversion here and there).
Honestly, beside holding a single season pass for a guest perspective... how does this anyway improve the CF side of deal? ...Risk not worth the reward.
Are people just trolling or does anyone have another valid argument for a merger? Not talking company board rooms but guest experience standpoint...
It's declined since 2003? That was the last year I set foot in a Six Flags park, but I've heard just the opposite; that at the very least atmosphere and customer service has improved considerably. My experience was that it was on a sharp decline up until '03-04ish.
Six Flags got better towards the end of the previous decade, but based on my experiences, it went right back downhill. They've not been quite as bad as those days in the early 2000s, but they're not, in any universe, up to the caliber of Cedar Fair parks. I'll note that I did have a good Six Flags Over Texas experience in July, but to say that it was anywhere near as good as my experiences at Cedar Fair parks (far more numerous over the past five years at least) would be untruthful. Cedar Fair blows the doors off of Six Flags in the quality department, and I see no benefit to becoming a Six Flags acquisition.
13 Boomerang, 9 SLC, and 8 B-TR clones
Kstr 737 said:
Are people just trolling or does anyone have another valid argument for a merger? Not talking company board rooms but guest experience standpoint...
I would argue that, if whatever company emerges on the other side of a merger or purchase looks more like Cedar Fair than Six Flags, the guest experience would likely see some improvement. I'm not saying they do everything right, but I would have a hard time not putting the culture and service categories in Cedar Fair's favor.
I think all of this is just speculation since it seems pretty far fetched. Both companies have a lot of debt that the other would have to take on and I doubt either company has enough cash on hand to avoid taking on even more debt to make it happen.
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