Wow, Platinum membership prices would skyrocket if this goes through…also Williamsburg would change the Bounce pass to Hop, Skip & a Jump pass 
News SeaWorld Makes $3.4 Billion Takeover Bid for Cedar Fair
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This explains why BGW has left Verbolten's queue in disrepair. It will end up as a storage shed after the merger that makes Williamsburg the repository for bygone rides and attractions once hailed as some of the best around.
What's next? A massive, unforeseen airborne virus...?
Nothing can surprise me any longer in this world. Except this proposal.
What's next? A massive, unforeseen airborne virus...?
Nothing can surprise me any longer in this world. Except this proposal.
But unlike SEAS which has seen pretty massive increase in stock value, CF has been on the downswing since the pandemic. They are not doing near as well financially as they were Pre-pandemic. Especially not compared to SEAS.
I meant 2020. Thry Had no cash in 2020. Even if they did well in 2021 they do not have 3.4 billion in the bank for this deal. It would have to be financed and highly leveraged.
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This really pisses me off.......for two years now I have been very vocal about the bullshit cutbacks at BGW all while charging the same or more for some things and every time I got nothing but fanboys saying "they are just doing what tey have to do to keep the doors open". Now we find out that we have bankrolled not only keeping the park open but enough for them to buy more parks.......WTF? They took our money for a new coaster then screwed us over by not opening it until it was profitable.....guess we should prepare for Seas to ruin KD just as they have at BGW. Hopfully Tumbili can open before Seas gets they keys to the park or we wont see it open till 2025.
Not exactly true. When CF rejected SF's bid, FUN stock was trading at $58. Currently it's trading at $55.74. CF rejected the $70 bid because it was too low, so it would surprise me if they don't feel similarly about SEAS' $60 offer when stock prices are only slightly lower.
Source: Reuters
EDIT: FUN was trading around $51 before the news about SEAS broke this morning; it spiked to $55 after that before trading was halted.
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Have you looked at their recent quarterly earnings? Also they did have cash on hand in 2020. The payment pauses were a temporary measure when they were unsure how long they would be closed. They didn't know how long the cash would last, so like a lot of other companies they paused payments. It has been talked about a lot on this forum because SEAS was really the only company that it was news for because it fed into the narrative that they were doing poorly financially when that wasn't really the case anymore after FY 2019.
If this goes through are we going to see SEAS becoming Premier Parks when they went on a bender to convert as many parks as possible to the CF brand?
Also, speaking of brand - while it's not immersive, at least CF parks let you know they're all part of the same chain whereas SEAS has a branding mishmash between the BG, SP, SW, and water park brands that currently exist (not that I'm advocating for a change).
If the deal goes through, would the average guest even notice?
Also, speaking of brand - while it's not immersive, at least CF parks let you know they're all part of the same chain whereas SEAS has a branding mishmash between the BG, SP, SW, and water park brands that currently exist (not that I'm advocating for a change).
If the deal goes through, would the average guest even notice?
This isn't something they would be funding from cash on hand. Instead it would be a basically be taking out a loan to finance the deal.
I was referring to the fact that since January 2020 SEAS has nearly doubled their share price. While CF is just now starting to reach Pre-pandemic share prices
I'm afraid if this happens passes will become inordinately expensive, especially for people who have no interest in going to most of these new acquisitions. Plus this doesn't at all add to SEAS "brand" as conservation and education entertainment. It would provide good access to a few markets. Maybe keep a few and spin the rest out in an IPO?
This is the kind of news that has me logging back in.
At one point in time, I would've loved to hear this. Now, I'm not so sure...
On one hand, this deal offers a way out of how highly SEAS relies on Sea World, The whole shift towards no animal performances etc. in recent years. They must know that they are operating those parks on borrowed time... I mean hell, it's actually no real secret to anyone paying attention. You can't negotiate with terrorist, and the hearts and minds of my generation have been made up. No putting the Blackfish-genie back in the bottle.
But, Anyways, what exactly does a world look like where the relatively smaller SEAS acquires and begins to operate CF and adds several more "Major League" parks to their portfolio?
Perhaps, a move of this nature has been a long-engineered play, maybe even a back up plan. But I hope if this goes through, on the otherside of this there can be something more of a return to form from the Busch brand, if not using additional revenue streams from the CF parks to prop up the Busch parks as the "premium brand", and leave the mere coaster parks to the CF acquisitions... And I would hope that's how they handle the whole KD/BGW thing if it comes down to it. Between Twisted Timbers and I305, Griffon and Alpengeist, I don't know what I'd do if I had to watch either park or their rides get cannibalized and destroyed, or the rides otherwise relocated.
But, at the very least they could bring BGW's HOS up to snuff again... If it were to survive.
At one point in time, I would've loved to hear this. Now, I'm not so sure...
On one hand, this deal offers a way out of how highly SEAS relies on Sea World, The whole shift towards no animal performances etc. in recent years. They must know that they are operating those parks on borrowed time... I mean hell, it's actually no real secret to anyone paying attention. You can't negotiate with terrorist, and the hearts and minds of my generation have been made up. No putting the Blackfish-genie back in the bottle.
But, Anyways, what exactly does a world look like where the relatively smaller SEAS acquires and begins to operate CF and adds several more "Major League" parks to their portfolio?
Perhaps, a move of this nature has been a long-engineered play, maybe even a back up plan. But I hope if this goes through, on the otherside of this there can be something more of a return to form from the Busch brand, if not using additional revenue streams from the CF parks to prop up the Busch parks as the "premium brand", and leave the mere coaster parks to the CF acquisitions... And I would hope that's how they handle the whole KD/BGW thing if it comes down to it. Between Twisted Timbers and I305, Griffon and Alpengeist, I don't know what I'd do if I had to watch either park or their rides get cannibalized and destroyed, or the rides otherwise relocated.
But, at the very least they could bring BGW's HOS up to snuff again... If it were to survive.
I dont see how this would turn out any different than CedarFair rejecting SixFlags. Unless SEAS wants less (individual parks) and this is just an opening negotiating strategy?
CF perhaps rejected the SF deal because they would have been challenged as a monopoly? Just speculation, but in the U.S that deal would've caused problems. SEAS buying CF, regardless of how much I like it or not makes much more sense on paper at least from a regulatory standpoint.
The leak however doesn't bode well for this kind of deal.
You posted this two months early April fools day isn't till April first.
this is genuinely super crazy news. there are a few things that worry me regarding it, but if cedar fair does allow the buyout, it could be huge, especially in my homestate. depending on what they do, parks that were once extremely neglected by cedar fair could become decent, or even have the potential to be huge moneymakers close to the level of cedar point or even knotts in terms of sales and attendance based upon how they treat and build up many of these parks. to be honest im not too worried about a geauga lake situation happening in virginia, as both have been my home parks for a long time, and even though busch gardens does get a lot more people to visit, kings dominion has still held up on it's own as well, and has been doing decent profits as well even after the pandemic.
what really does intrigue me though is what six flags will do. it's not just virginia, but six flags as a whole. if we aren't counting the dominance of six flags in texas, or considering if a six flags park is the only oen nearby to someone in their state based on location, six flags is genuinely going to suffer in a lot of areas, especially six flags america, which if the deal happens, six flags will pretty much have to focus on the park to compete against kings dominion. in general a lot of this is super crazy, there's some good and some bad, it's all just very interesting...
what really does intrigue me though is what six flags will do. it's not just virginia, but six flags as a whole. if we aren't counting the dominance of six flags in texas, or considering if a six flags park is the only oen nearby to someone in their state based on location, six flags is genuinely going to suffer in a lot of areas, especially six flags america, which if the deal happens, six flags will pretty much have to focus on the park to compete against kings dominion. in general a lot of this is super crazy, there's some good and some bad, it's all just very interesting...
One point is while BGW and KD are only an hour apart they actually serve fairly different markets KD I'd much more heavily influenced by NOVA why BGW picks up must of it's customer base from vacationers and the tide water area. I see it as less of an issue then KI CP which seem to coexist fairly well.