News Herschend Signs Deal to Acquire SIlverwood Theme Park
- Thread starter TPoseOnTantrum
- Start date
Fuck. Another independent wiped from the board.
This is a market where there wasn't competition already and Herschend is an objectively good fit for Silverwood—but goddamn, the consolidation in this industry right now is just endless.
And I really hope Herschend isn't overextending... or worse, building up to an IPO.
Let's not forget the Palace deal was the result of a $1.1 billion loan...
This is a market where there wasn't competition already and Herschend is an objectively good fit for Silverwood—but goddamn, the consolidation in this industry right now is just endless.
And I really hope Herschend isn't overextending... or worse, building up to an IPO.
Let's not forget the Palace deal was the result of a $1.1 billion loan...
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Do we have any idea what changed in the last four years at Silverwood to go from "definitely not for sale" and "it's time to move on?"
From the phrasing of the letter it sounds like the family just isn't interested anymore. Gary Norton, the founder and current manager of the park, is 77, so I'm guessing he's wanting to retire.
Silverwood is an absolute gem of a park so I really hope they don’t change too much, but Herschend feels like easily the best fit having been there. It’s already basically at the level of quality of a Dollywood or Silver Dollar City, just on a smaller scale obviously. I hope this doesn’t do anything except give them continued stability, because that place is hands down one of the best experiences in the country pound for pound
This. It's often overlooked that family businesses eventually fall to family members who just don't want to do that with their lives. Some people just don't want the headache of running a business, especially when a big payday is the alternative.
Herschend is honestly the best outcome for the place. I. too, fear an IPO, though with a company objective of "Family-Held Forever", it seems unlikely, at least for the foreseeable future. (Note that I do recognize the irony of me making essentially conflicting points between the two segments of my post, but hey, it's not like Silverwood has a similar objective plastered all over their website, so GET OFF MY BACK.
)
Gillian’s Wonderland Pier is a perfect recent example of this with a worse ending. It wasn’t financially viable and Jay Gillian is currently the mayor of Ocean City, which, views on him as a mayor aside, does unfortunately take precedent over trying to salvage a failing amusement park, especially with Playland’s Castaway Cove being not even a 5 min walk away.
Silverwood already shines. (Ignore the one train operations.)