Cedar Fair has merged with Six Flags in a $2 billion all stock deal

[Smol bean]

https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/six-flags-cedar-fair-strike-big-theme-park-merger-abbab03f

Article is paywalled but the TLDR from Maddox121 on r/rollercoasters is

• Richard Zimmerman is now CEO of both six flags and cedar fair with Selim Bassoul now in the role of Executive Chairman 

• No details about the future of the DC ip at Six Flags or Snoopy at Cedar Fair

•Both companies will trade under $FUN but the corporate six flags name will remain

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

RIP 

[Prequel]

Why is this allowed? They are direct competitors. 

It's like Pepsi and Coke merging. 

[franky]

1 hour ago, Prequel said:

Why is this allowed? They are direct competitors. 

It's like Pepsi and Coke merging. 

There are more than only two fish in that pond.

[TBoy]

I've done the math and the combined company will have more than 50% of coasters in some states at their parks: Ohio, Massechusits, North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, Virginia and Oklaholma will have more than 50% of coasters at the new Six Flags. 

I am opposed to the merger as it means some markets where CF and SF are directly competing will have a total monopoly, for example Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and California's Great America are currently competing, if the merger goes through then they will be sister parks. Then add Knotts and SFMM and they have 4 parks in 1 state, as well as 49.5% of all coasters at those 4 parks. Expect less additions as some areas will have a theme park monopoly.

Could we see the Six Flags name come to the other parks? The new company name is using the Six Flags name opposed to the Cedar Fair one, and most parks that were acquired by SF have changed to Six Flags (name). Possibly we could see some parks get "Six Flags (name)" (Michigans Adventure, Valleyfair, Kings Island etc.) while the more historical ones (Knotts, Cedar Point) get "(name): A Six Flags Theme Park"

Finally could we see DC/Looney Tunes come to CF, with Peanuts coming to SF respectively? The press release said that they would continue to use them properties, and previous buyouts from SF/CF have gotten their areas transformed into DC/Looney Tunes and Peanuts respectively, like with Nick to Peanuts at the Paramount Parks.

[aaronm]

It’s all speculation at this point. Arguably CF/SF merging helps them compete with Disney and Universal, hopefully we won’t see another Geauga Lake situation but even the closest competing parks (CGA/SFDK, KD/SFA, Knotts/SFMM) are over an hour apart do essentially serve different markets. Still a wild move, that all-chain season pass will be amazing value going forward.

[wikiverse]

Just to end the speculation, they spell it all out here:

https://ir.cedarfair.com/news/news-details/2023/Cedar-Fair-and-Six-Flags-to-Combine-in-Merger-of-Equals-Creating-a-Leading-Amusement-Park-Operator/default.aspx

The best way to look at the deal is Cedar Fair buying Six Flags with stock in a new company instead of cash.  CEO and CFO of Cedar Fair become CEO and CFO of new company.  This is great news because six flags parks might now be run like Cedar Fair parks.

CEO of Six Flags becomes chairman of the new board which will be a 6/6 split of people from the current boards of both companies. This is great news for the new company because Six Flags has a garbage CEO and he will not be in an executive role at the new company.

The Six Flags CFO will be 'Chief Integration Officer', so presumably he'll be pushed out when he reveals where all the bodies are buried to the new leadership.

Deal is subject to Six Flags shareholder and regulatory approval. But it will go through. There is no scenario where this isn't a great deal for Six Flags.

 

[Naazon]

11 hours ago, Prequel said:

Why is this allowed? They are direct competitors. 

It's like Pepsi and Coke merging. 

Wouldn't it be more like Schweppes and Kirks merge to take on Coke and Pepsi?

Yes I understand Schweppes owns pepsi but you get the point..

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

7 hours ago, wikiverse said:

Just to end the speculation, they spell it all out here:

https://ir.cedarfair.com/news/news-details/2023/Cedar-Fair-and-Six-Flags-to-Combine-in-Merger-of-Equals-Creating-a-Leading-Amusement-Park-Operator/default.aspx

The best way to look at the deal is Cedar Fair buying Six Flags with stock in a new company instead of cash.  CEO and CFO of Cedar Fair become CEO and CFO of new company.  This is great news because six flags parks might now be run like Cedar Fair parks.

CEO of Six Flags becomes chairman of the new board which will be a 6/6 split of people from the current boards of both companies. This is great news for the new company because Six Flags has a garbage CEO and he will not be in an executive role at the new company.

The Six Flags CFO will be 'Chief Integration Officer', so presumably he'll be pushed out when he reveals where all the bodies are buried to the new leadership.

Deal is subject to Six Flags shareholder and regulatory approval. But it will go through. There is no scenario where this isn't a great deal for Six Flags.

 

Thanks for putting all that together so I don't have to read the big detail. if it's more like cedar taking over SF, i'm quietly positive about the move. it could see standards at SF improve. A SF taking over Cedar scenario is more unthinkable.

Hopefully we don't get a Paramount Parks situation out of this, and the merge strengthens them as a company with more power to compete with the top two for market share.

There is no scenario where the big players like CP, SFMM or Knott's are in danger. Some of the other more regional parks with lower patronage and ROI may see some changes out of this though, which is sad, but ultimately it's a business and they have to do what is profitable less they sink the entire ship.

[Ashley Jeffery]

[downunder]

Lol talk about merging chocolate with dog poop.

In all seriousness, like others have observed, if the Six Flags parks started being run the Cedar Fair way in general that should be an improvement. I believe they only have competing parks in LA and San Fran (and California's Great America was closing anyway before the merger), and Magic Mountain and Knott's have co-existed for decades - it would be an interesting hypothetical if one of those 2 closed how much would the other benefit in terms of attendance.  

And Six Flags is a brand that has recognition, but is not necessarily an attractive brand - I'd never go to a park because it's Six Flags (probably the opposite) and the general consumer market I doubt cares either.

Edited November 2, 2023 by downunder
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[DaptoFunlandGuy]

26 minutes ago, downunder said:

it would be an interesting hypothetical if one of those 2 closed how much would the other benefit in terms of attendance.  

My initial reply to this would have suggested there wouldn't be much difference given the distances and the locals for each park have little crossover, but the more I worked through it the more interesting it became. 

If knott's were to close, I feel like the majority of their tourism attendance would move to another Disney day, or just spend time around the Anaheim resort precinct. Locals on the other hand visit Knott's because they don't like the bustle (and robbery) of the D bubble.

If MM were to close however - the solution is less obvious. The park's bread and butter are youths\young adults who are *relatively* local to the area, and seeking thrills, not experiences. The nearest big park is Universal, but it's a very different experience and not really what an Adrenaline junkie is looking for. I'd wager Universal would pick up some of the market simply due to geography, but those who have the ability to travel... Would they go all the way to Knotts for an Adrenaline fix?

 

[downunder]

I was just at staying at Knott's last month and Six Flags seemed a world away. I thought about going, but I wasn't that enthused about going all that way and nor was my local mate who would have been driving.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

We stayed at Knott's for part of our April trip this year, and did drive from there to Valencia for the day - We are certainly not the average tourists when it comes to parks though.

[Baconjack]

2 hours ago, downunder said:

Lol talk about merging chocolate with dog poop.

In all seriousness, like others have observed, if the Six Flags parks started being run the Cedar Fair way in general that should be an improvement. I believe they only have competing parks in LA and San Fran (and California's Great America was closing anyway before the merger), and Magic Mountain and Knott's have co-existed for decades - it would be an interesting hypothetical if one of those 2 closed how much would the other benefit in terms of attendance.  

And Six Flags is a brand that has recognition, but is not necessarily an attractive brand - I'd never go to a park because it's Six Flags (probably the opposite) and the general consumer market I doubt cares either.

You also have the case of having multiple parks in a single state catering to two cities. One of worlds of fun or six flags St. Louis could be sold off.

Also you have two parks catering to the Philadelphia market, there’s no way Dorney’s not on the cards to get let go when you have Great Adventure not far away

Knotts is for sure gone. The land it sits on is just too valuable, Magic Mountain not so much, plus knotts is landlocked and can’t expand at all. No park is too popular to kill if it’s land can be flogged off for top dollar (ie: wonderland)

Six Flags America & Kings Dominion are also relatively close to each other, so the smaller park (Six Flags) could get sold off, but to another operator because zoning prevents its use for much else

Six Flags is not in the best position financially and the merged company takes on everything (such as debt), so some parks will have to be cut unfortunately.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Baconjack

[Gazza]

You'd be mad to sell Knotts. It's the ultimate piggyback attraction to Disneyland and makes good money.

Don't know why it matters if you have two parks under the same ownership nearby...How is it different to WBMW & SW, or Thorpe & Chessington, or Busch Tampa and SW Orlando.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Gazza

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

26 minutes ago, Baconjack said:

Knotts is for sure gone. The land it sits on is just too valuable, Magic Mountain not so much, plus knotts is landlocked and can’t expand at all. No park is too popular to kill if it’s land can be flogged off for top dollar (ie: wonderland)

You sound really confident about that, but I wouldn't be so sure. Its a strong park, and can stand on it's own. If the group tried to close it down they'd get crucified, and selling it would be a HUGE mistake.

As for land values - The area surrounding it is a lot of residential property. It's not a potential hub of industry at the junction of two major arterial highways. It's nowhere near Wonderland as a comparison. 

As far as attendances, Knott's ranks near the top of the group. Of the 11 Cedar Fair parks in this analysis, Knott's is beaten only by Cedar Point itself.

Revenue wise, its about the same, or larger than Cedar Point too.

 

No. While much is uncertain as a result of this merger - one thing is for sure - Knott's isn't going anywhere.

[jjuttup]

Im thouroghly enjoying the idea of 6F having to come to terms with their worst nightmare- theming.

[Dean Barnett]

On 03/11/2023 at 11:05 AM, Baconjack said:

Knotts is for sure gone

Why did they just spend so much time and money getting Xcelerator working then? 

[Dean Barnett]

 

[REGIE]

Definitely a good video about this all. He definitely dives pretty deep into it.  It’s enough to soothe my worry’s about the merge.  But WOW so so unexpected. I don’t think anyone could have predicted this!! The 2 thrill park beasts becoming 1!! It’s like LG and Sony joining force.   They gotta announce when the pass will be combined. Otherwise it could potentially stop many people from buying a pass for 1 chain if they know that the 2 will become 1.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, REGIE said:

They gotta announce when the pass will be combined. Otherwise it could potentially stop many people from buying a pass for 1 chain if they know that the 2 will become 1.

ETR covered this in the video. They're unlikely to make any changes this operating season, so current season passes aren't likely to change. 

Even if they do, I can't see them burning current passholders by not offering them some sort of upgrade \ conversion \ freebie.

[DJKostya]

I do remember many years ago during the "coaster wars" between SF and CF that SF got into a lot of financial difficulties and was looking to sell off some of their parks, including SFMM. I believe that CF looked at buying SFMM, but was put off by the price (Which was around $1 billion).

What CF did end up buying was SF Ohio which was rebranded as Geauga Lake, which eventually closed (Side note: I was able to visit not long before it closed, wasn't a bad little park at all, I rode my first B&M (Dominator) there).

SF did eventually go bankrupt but was able to restructure and save itself.

While the merger is angering a lot of people it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Sure it may give CF a monopoly in certain regions, but lots of theme parks are like that. There is still plenty of other operators, both large and small in the US market.