Cedar Fair & Six Flags - once more

Hank · #1 10-15-2005, 01:15 PM

This was online in Toledo today....

10/15/2005 at 08:12

The owners of Cedar Point amusement park say they are interested in buying the Six Flags theme park company, which went up for sale in August.

A spokeswoman for Cedar Fair in Sandusky says the company's interest in buying the Oklahoma City-based Six Flags is exploratory at this point. Six Flags is the world's largest theme park company with thirty parks in North America. The company declared a debt of more than $2 billion in its 2005 second-quarter earnings report.

Analysts say Six Flags' large debt could scare off buyers. But more than thirty potential buyers have contacted Six Flags.

Cedar Fair owns and operates a dozen parks, including Geauga Lake in northeast Ohio, which used to be a Six Flags park, and of course, Cedar Point in Sandusky.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

**Ryan F** · #2 10-15-2005, 02:35 PM

Doesnt Cedar Fair just want to buy a few of the properties instead of the whole chain?
It would be smarter for them to buy parks in a few areas where they dont have any and broaden their areas.

raser · #3 10-15-2005, 02:41 PM

I would really love to have them purchase SFGam as then my season pass would be usefull all year long at a park near me...

Chris L · #4 10-15-2005, 04:14 PM

"A spokeswoman for Cedar Fair in Sandusky says the company's interest in buying the Oklahoma City-based Six Flags is [b]exploratory[/b] at this point."

Stop talking about it like it's concrete. It's not! Exploratory means Cedar Fair is just not ruling out the consideration of a/the purchase.

**James R** · #5 10-16-2005, 11:02 PM

I wonder what park they're talking about...

;) If they did, that would be really nice.

But if not, I've already come to terms with the ordeal, and I'm fine either way. (though preferably the former).

SheiKra · #6 10-16-2005, 11:15 PM

I would buy SFoG, and maybe SFFT if I was Kinzel. These two parks are in good shape and would also expand the Cedar Fair chain to the south. It would also leave competition for the parks in the north that ae owned by Cedar Fair, and would not create the problem that is Geauga Lake...

Chris L · #7 10-17-2005, 12:27 AM

/\ Six Flags does not completely own Over Georgia. There is a group of private party/outside investors that own the park as well. That's why they were extremely upset (I don't know if there was a lawsuit or not, but there might have been) with Time Warner's "supposed" mismangement of the park in the 90's, where the investors claimed that lack of capital investment and proper park presentation upkeep let to the decline in the property's value.

Sir Willow · #8 10-17-2005, 11:51 AM

Ok, to clarify, Cedar Fair is NOT interested in purchasing the chain. They were exploring about purchasing some specific parks but not the entire chain. Since they are not selling off individual parks, it pretty much eliminates them from the actual pruchase and sale.

So no, Cedar Fair is not buying Six Flags.

Jerry S · #9 10-17-2005, 02:07 PM

I think it would make sense to buy a lot of flagship parks, those that do not have as much debt, and rather, are expanding. Such parks are SFGAdv, SFMM, SFOG, and SFGAm. But of course, that would make me pretty angry because CF doesn't involve their parks with animals, which won't roll too well for GAdv.

I don't think it'll happen. I think that the company will close or sell a few more parks, like SFDL and Fronteir City, maybe also SFFT, and they'll be outta debt soon.

DmnAdam14113 · #10 10-17-2005, 02:29 PM

I don't think they will buy the whole chain either. Also, if they did buy the whole chain, wouldn't some of their parks be way too close to each other?? When it comes to expanding, I would think if two parks are close to each other, only one of them would get major expansions at a time, not both. Maybe one park would remain smaller and the other larger.

Hank · #11 10-17-2005, 03:16 PM

OK - read the post I made with some care...

CF is looking at the purchase of the SIX FLAGS COMPANY. That would mean the whole kit and kaboodle. Next, it says specifically SF in GEORGIA as a possible first.

Now, as to why they would buy the company - well, has anyone ever heard of a monopoly? That way no matter where you spent your money, CF would get it. Kinda like the movie houses these days - one or two large companies own them all.

As for whether or not the SF parks are any good or worth an investment, well...I feel that there are too many parks to support these days. Just like a large mall with a bunch of shoe stores - they can't all sell enough to keep going ESPECIALLY when they usually end up duplicating brands and styles - just like the amusement parks are doing with their rides. Some new thinking - outside the box - is needed to keep things fresh.

And for god's sake - I wish these ride manufactuers would start realizing that MOST Americans are overweight and/or taller than the rest of the world and thus make their rides seats able to accomodate the USA population.

Sir Willow · #12 10-17-2005, 03:45 PM

Guess you missed a couple of things there Hank.

While Cedar Fair has inquired about the chain, they aren't interested in buying the whole chain. I repeat, they don't want to buy the entire Six Flags chain. They've said that repeatedly in several different news articles and forums. They ARE interested in purchasing a few parks, maybe, but the only way to show that interest was to put in a bid inquiry in the auction process. However, Six Flags has made it clear to them that they are NOT interested in selling individual parks. It's an all or nothing deal.

So that also means that they CAN'T start with SFoG. It's all or nothing, and CF doesn't want it all, so they're getting nothing. They can't start with buying one park and then adding on. That's NOT how the sale is being done. The only way that'll happen is if whoever buys the chain sells them a park or two later on. I don't think I can make that part any clearer.

But just in case you still don't believe me, read through this one carefully and not how many times it says "some of the parks"- especially the last paragraph:
[url]http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051011/BUSINESS06/510110359/-1/BUSINESS[/url]

Same with this one:
[url]http://www.ohionewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=3963117&nav=menu241_1[/url]
The last paragraph of both of those stories is the real story there.

And for the unrelated topic about weight of the riders on the rides- perhaps American's ought to get a clue and start losing some weight and getting in better shape instead of insisting that ride manufacturers find a way to put them in dangerous situations that they shouldn't be in due to size. We're not taller than the rest of the world, we're fatter, and that's a whole other problem entirely. (and for the record, I'm including my 40 pound overweight self in that)

Hank · #13 10-17-2005, 04:02 PM

You're right - but the article I posted from the Toledo Blade (#1 in this forum) does say the company. And I realize from other news articles, it's all or nothing.

As for the off topic thing, I was just commenting on the fact that no matter which park you go to and regardless of who owns it, if you don't fit on one B&M coaster, you probably won't fit on other B&M machines. This is why I won't go to CP anymore - there's little I can get on anymore to justify the admission price. And I'm not that much ovrweight, but I am 6'4". It's a shame that I used to be able to ride on everything, but not any more. I'm sure there are many others like this too. It's just a reason I give for parks profits declining. That's all.

**James R** · #14 10-17-2005, 06:03 PM

[QUOTE=Chris L]/\ Six Flags does not completely own Over Georgia. There is a group of private party/outside investors that own the park as well. That's why they were extremely upset (I don't know if there was a lawsuit or not, but there might have been) with Time Warner's "supposed" mismangement of the park in the 90's, where the investors claimed that lack of capital investment and proper park presentation upkeep let to the decline in the property's value.[/QUOTE]

To go a bit further, Chris L is correct. Along with SFoG, there are a handful of parks owned by this 'private party' such as, SFoT, SFMM and I believe, SFGAdv. There may be more, though I'm not sure. So, in turn, these parks cannot be purchased from Six Flags, as Chris stated, they are not completely owned by Six Flags. That is also another reason these certain parks receive so much capital. The investors must be 'satisfied' with the 'revenue' from the parks. Another park Cedar Fair cannot purchase, is SFKK. SFKK is not entirely owned by Six Flags either, as part of the park is used for the Kentucky State Fair. If you look at the Calendar at sixflags.com, nearly two weeks in August each year are blacked out, and the park, as a Six Flags park, is not open. That is when the KSF is held. Chris is also correct about the Time Warner incident.

Zingoman · #15 10-17-2005, 06:53 PM

Lose some weight America. Why should the world cater to our fatness. They are the ones doing it right. You go to Europe and you don't see so many fatties walking around. It is all about self control. You got yourself over weight, so you pay the consequences. DEAL WITH IT.