Cedar Fair Entertainment Corporation and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced their merger on Thursday.
The companies stated that the $8 billion deal would create a “leading operator of amusement parks in the highly competitive leisure sector with a diversified and expanded footprint, an improved operating model, and strong revenue and cash-flow generation profiles.”
The merger agreement, which was unanimously approved by both boards of directors, stipulates that Cedar Fair shareholders will receive one share of the combined company per unit of stock owned while Six Flags stockholders will receive 0.5800 common shares in the combined company per share owned.
After the closing of the transaction, Cedar Fair unit owners will own approximately 51.2% while Six Flags shareholders own approximately 48.8%.
Richard Zimmerman said that the Cedar Fair CEO and President Richard Zimmerman stated, “Our merger will bring together North America’s two iconic amusement parks to create a more diversified footprint, and a robust operating model, to enhance park offerings, and performance.”
Cedar Fair, headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio, operates 11 amusement parks in Ohio, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Texas and Ontario.
Six Flags and Cedar Fair have a shared culture, philosophy, and commitment to providing consumers with exciting experiences. We expect that by combining our operating models and technology platforms we will accelerate our transformation and unlock new possibilities for our parks,” Selim Basoul, President and CEO of Six Flags said in the press release.
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation claims to be the “world’s biggest regional theme park company”, with 27 parks in the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada.
They say that in the past year, they “collectively entertained over 48 million guests.”
The newly formed board will be comprised of 12 directors. Six of them will come from the previous Cedar Fair board and six of them from the previous Six Flag board.
The company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FUN and operate under the name Six Flags. The combined company’s headquarters will be located in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, the “significant finance operations and administrative functions” will be located in Sandusky, Ohio.
The merger should close in the first quarter of 2024 after “receiving shareholder approval from Six Flags, regulatory approvals, and satisfying customary closing requirements.” According to the press release, Cedar Fair unitholders are not required to approve.
