Six Flags and Cedar Fair have announced that they are merging into one entity, resulting in an amusement park company with 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and nine resort properties across North America.
The companies state that the deal, worth $8 billion, will create a “leading amusement park operator in the highly competitive leisure space with an expanded and diversified footprint, a more robust operating model and a strong revenue and cash flow generation profile.”
The Associated Press notes the amusement park industry’s difficulty over the last several years, citing James Hardiman at Citi Investment Research.
“Whereas the theme park industry as a whole has been under significant pressure since the start of the pandemic, Six Flags has created additional pressure of its own, with a volatile new attendance and pricing strategy that has struggled to take root, alienating its core customers and leading to dramatic drops in visitation along the way,” Hardiman wrote.
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Six Flags currently operates 27 properties throughout North America, with rival Cedar Fair operating 11 amusement parks, perhaps most famously Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.
“Our merger with Six Flags will bring together two of North America’s iconic amusement park companies to establish a highly diversified footprint and a more robust operating model to enhance park offerings and performance,” said President and CEO of Cedar Fair, Richard Zimmerman.
According to Fox Business, both companies’ board of directors unanimously approved the terms of the merger. The new company will be called Six Flags, with a new board of directors consisting of six members of Six Flags’ previous board and six of Cedar Fair’s previous board. The merger is expected to complete in early 2024, following “receipt of Six Flags shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.”
