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Theme park operators Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. are set to merge in a $2B all-stock deal that will result in a combined company with an equity value of about $3.5B.
The new entity will operate a total of 27 amusement parks and 15 water parks in North America, putting it in the same league as such rival brands as Disney, SeaWorld and Universal, which is owned by Comcast.
The combination will retain the Six Flags name, though Cedar Fair shareholders will own about 51% of the new entity once the merger closes. Each company will have six members on the new 12-person board of directors.
The new company will be in the form of a master limited partnership. For each share they own, Six Flags shareholders will receive 0.58 shares of common stock in the new entity, The Wall Street Journal reports. Owners of Cedar Fair stock will receive one share in the new company for each unit they own.
The deal comes amid sluggish growth for theme parks, possibly attributable to a wet spring and a hot summer in many parts of the country.
Still, total revenue for Six Flags for the third quarter increased by $43M, or 8% compared to Q3 2022, driven by higher attendance but partially offset by lower total visitor spending per capita, according to the company.
Cedar Fair revenues for the third quarter totaled $842M, a decrease of $1M compared with Q3 2022. Park spending per capita also dropped for Cedar Fair.
Six Flags stock ticked up about 1% on Thursday morning and managed to eke out a gain of 0.3% from a year ago. Cedar Fair stock dropped about 4.2% on Thursday and has dropped about 10% compared with this time last year.
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