Cedar Fair and Six Flags merger (?)

Hi Rob,

I was certainly blindsided by this, but then I do not own shares in either company. Here's a few basics of what I've been reading about this proposed merger, which has only been approved by the 2 boards of directors but not by full votes yet.

They are calling it a merger of equals, whatever that means, but current Cedar Fair unitholders will own 51.2% of the combined company while current Six Flags shareholders will own 48.8%. Cedar Fair unitholders will receive 1 share of the new company for each unit, while Six Flags shareholders will receive 0.58 shares of the new company for each share. Six Flags shareholders will also received some sort of special dividend right before the transaction closes.

They are saying the combined company will trade using the FUN ticker, but will operate under the Six Flags name. What that may mean for any possible rebranding of parks, I have no idea.

As for governing structure, the current President and CEO of Cedar Fair (Zimmerman) will serve the same role in the combined company, while the current President and CEO of Six Flags (Bassoul) will serve as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Board of 12 will be comprised of 6 Directors from Cedar Fair, and 6 from Six Flags. The current Chief Financial Officer of Cedar Fair (Witherow) will serve the same role in the combined company, while the current CFO of Six Flags (Mick) will serve as the Chief Integration Officer.

I'm skeptical that the combined company can achieve the cost savings they claim in their press release ($200 million annually). And operationally, who knows what the hell this will all mean at the individual park level.

And please, for the sake of all that is right and good in the world ... no Six Flags Knott's Berry Farm!

Rick W - AirBear

Thanks for the lowdown, Rick. Hopefully both brands will continue to operate without major disruption, perhaps not unlike the Busch/Seaworld collaboration. No SFKBF and no SFKI.

I feel it would be a big mistake to apply the Six Flags brand name to the Cedar Fair properties and especially parks like Knott's Berry Farm, Cedar Point, and Kings Island.

For most markets where Cedar Fair has an existing park the Six Flags brand does not carry a positive reputation in comparison to their own.