A rollercoaster makes a loop at Six Flags Amusement Park.
Picture via Darren McCollester/Newsmakers
The theme park industry has a brand new massive.
Six Flags and Cedar Honest have finished their $8 billion merger, making a reside stories behemoth that owns 27 theme parks, 15 water parks, 9 resorts and motels in addition to safaris, marinas and different homes around the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
“Nowadays marks a vital milestone for our corporate, shareholders, visitors and colleagues, unlocking upper price and larger alternatives to ship enticing leisure stories,” stated Richard Zimmerman, president and leader govt officer of Six Flags Leisure Company.
Cedar Honest owns Knott’s Berry Farm in Anaheim and Cedar Level in Ohio, amongst different homes. Six Flags owns Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Nice Journey in New Jersey and Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia California, amongst others. The corporations firstly introduced their plan to merge ultimate yr.
The corporations famous that via combining they are going to have way more parks in places like Florida, Texas and California, which is able to keep open year-round, serving to to supply steadiness when their parks within the northeast, midwest shut for the iciness.
The corporations plan to leverage their authorized highbrow belongings of their parks, with Six Flags preserving a handle Warner Bros. Discovery for rights to characters from DC Comics and Looney Tunes, and Cedar Honest controlling rights to the Peanuts universe.
The brand new corporate will likely be known as Six Flags Leisure Company, and industry underneath the ticker “FUN” at the New York Inventory Change. Maximum of its senior executives will likely be present Cedar Honest executives, together with its incoming CEO Zimmerman. Selim Bassoul, who were CEO of Six Flags, will likely be govt chairman of the corporate.
Theme parks have change into a booming industry post-COVID, led via The Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal. Either one of the ones corporations are pouring billions into increasing their parks companies, with Disney making plans main expansions in each California and Florida, in addition to including extra cruise ships; and Common set most sensible open an enormous new park in Orlando subsequent yr, in addition to a smaller extra family-focused park in Texas (in Six Flags’ yard).
The brand new Six Flags doesn’t have the dimensions of the Disney or Common parks in Florida or California, however it is going to have way more parks unfold around the nation, together with many a ways from Disney or Common homes.
“We imagine that via combining the most productive concepts and maximum a success leisure practices of each Six Flags and Cedar Honest, the brand new Six Flags can ship a awesome degree of pleasure and pleasure that has but to be skilled via regional park visitors,” said Selim Bassoul, govt chairman of the board of administrators of Six Flags Leisure Company. “We’re excited to unite the Cedar Honest and Six Flags groups to capitalize at the super expansion alternatives and operational efficiencies of our extra intensive leisure portfolio.”
Zimmerman added of the deal: “Our merger establishes a brand new Six Flags Leisure Company with a extremely different footprint and powerful working fashion, bettering park choices and function despite the fact that the complementary portfolio of horny property and highbrow belongings from every of Cedar Honest and the previous Six Flags.”
