Six Flags Conference Call Details, 6 Parks Possibly For Sale

[colossus]

well at my ride ive been hearing alot about bush gardens coming to the park.

 

Chris-o

[Mr.Six]

Hey do these rideops know who the buyer is i hope i will be a non corperate operator

This is probably the most common question that we get asked all the time. "When is this place closing for good?" "Is it true, someone has bought the park and will turn it into homes?". I can't give you can answer, we know what everyone else does. Me , along with most of the majority of other workers haven't been told a single thing about it.

_six

[coasterjunkie91350]

well i guess my 5yr employment rep wont get me any answers but thanks anyway mr six

[Crazy4Coasters!]

any new info anyone? anyone know about about any other conference meetings coming up?

[GAcoaster]

Nothing yet, but I'm expecting some kind of announcement any day now, either about a sale agreement or plans to continue operations.

[glennborthwick]

i have a gut feeling they are going to keep it open - im abig holder of LOQ stock who do the flashpass and they are rolling it out to two new parks next year and they wont announce who. My guess is that mm is one of them and theyve struck a dela with the local autority to keep it open

[scruffy]

Someone just tould me that anything with SFMM on it is now 50% off. Is the park just tring to get rid of things for next year or is this a sign?

[KBNA777]

Just selling stuff off from 2006. They had it at Season Pass day at SFOG. Don't read too close into such things. If it were 75% off, then maybe you should run scared.

[coasterjunkie91350]

Well i was surfing thrillnetwork.com and came across a really troubling update on the sf parks sale

http://thrillnetwork.com/stories_view.php/1809/six_flags_disappointing_bids_parks.html

i thought you guys might be wondering who was looking into buying them i guess they let the the cat out of the bag lol

[kraxleRIDAH]

Things are about to get very very interesting...

 

L.A. Times staff writer Alana Semuels:

Initial bids for a group of Six Flags Inc. theme parks including the sprawling Magic Mountain in Valencia are said to have come in lower than expected.

 

The company is selling the properties to trim its $2.1 billion in debt.

 

Buyout firm MidOcean Partners, theme park operator Herschend Family Entertainment Corp. and CNL Financial Group were among the bidders for all or some of the six parks put up for sale, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing people who had been briefed on the bidding.

 

Of the three bidders, CNL was the only one to offer more than $650 million for the parks, the sources said.

 

The company needs to net more than $800 million from the sale to make its debt load manageable, according to industry analysts.

 

The nation's second-largest theme park operator announced in June that it intended to sell some of its parks to other companies or real estate developers.

 

Some Valencia residents and businesspeople, including the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, had feared that Magic Mountain would be sold to developers and dismantled. The chamber has said the amusement park helps the area's economic development.

 

At least one of the suitors — Atlanta-based Herschend — did not include Magic Mountain in its bid.

 

"We continue to do research on the selected Six Flags properties. Magic Mountain is not specifically involved in our negotiations," said Lisa Rau, spokeswoman for Herschend.

 

The company operates 17 properties in seven states, including Dolly Parton's Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

 

Herschend's exclusion of the roller-coaster-intensive park is likely to hurt its bid because Six Flags seems intent on selling the six properties as a group, said David Miller, an analyst at Sanders Morris Harris in Los Angeles.

 

Miller said he expected the six parks and an additional property in Oklahoma City to sell for $750 million to $850 million.

 

Miller said it was also unlikely that Magic Mountain, which draws 2.5 million to 3 million visitors a year, would be sold to real estate developers because of regulatory and environmental hurdles.

 

"The park will stay open," he said. "The last thing the company wants is a sale of real estate under the park."

 

Six Flags spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg declined to comment. Representatives of MidOcean Partners and CNL Financial Group did not return calls seeking comment.

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sixflags11nov11,1,5859222.story?coll=la-headlines-business

[TexTitan01]

Oh boy...So they're taking bids on all the parks as one big package? for 800M?

 

Sounds like this issue may be resolved quicker than I first thought, and the fact that from what I've seen they've only recieved bids from fellow park-chains seems to be very promising

[SharkTums]

OH THANK GOD!!!!

 

I AM SO GLAD THAT HERSCHEND DID NOT INCLUDE SFMM IN THEIR BID!!!!

 

I was really concerned when I saw that they were one of the interested parties a few weeks ago, thank goodness they're smart enough to keep their hands off SFMM!

 

This just confirms my love for SDC and Dollywood even more!

[coasterjunkie91350]

You are right Elissa i do think sfmm will not be picked up by another operator

due to the poor performance of the park sadly i see houses in that piece of land in 2010. I understand what you and robb are talking about now reguardless of how much i like the park its a sinking ship and six flags is abandoning it.

[coasterdude5]

Personally, I think Herschend should stay with what they have, which is two top-notch parks. I think Six Flags parks would only hurt them.

[SharkTums]

^I have never agreed with a 15 year old so much since I was 15!

 

Except do keep in mind they run a bunch of other smaller stuff too!

[Shavethewhales]

Oh, I wonder how much HFE considered Frontier City?

 

I wouldn't mind them taking that over, it's small and has potential, but it still would take alot to get up to HFE standards.

 

I just hope they don't go out on a spree buying up crappy SF parks, but I'm sure they're not that stupid.

[Jhcbiinoc]

Before it was even announced that Herschend was not interested in SFMM, somehow I had a feeling that they would not even consider it.....I could have seen Herschend buying Knott's when it was up for sale as it would have been a better fit for them at that time but I just could not see them trying to turn SFMM around. It would take them about as much money as it would cost to buy all the parks to bring SFMM to the level of a park like Silver Dollar City in regards to theming, landscape, etc.

 

HFE has not only Silver Dollar City and Dollywood, but I think they also operate Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta (originally slated to be made into a Silver Dollar City type park at one time if I recall right) and I think one or two of the WhiteWater parks. One thing I will say; HFE is one of the smartest and best Theme Park companies out there at the moment, IMHO; they really understand the concept of balancing a park with thrill rides and family rides, focusing on the atmosphere, food and entertainment and customer service to create a really immersive experience.

 

As far as SFMM, I was really thinking Busch would buy it as they and Cedar Fair are the two that I think could turn it around. Honestly, at this point I think SFI should just keep SFMM, get all the rides running to capacity and not add any new ones for a few years, and fix it up. Yeah, easier said than done, I know, but to me that makes more sense.

[Satoshi]

me can't believe other parks like BGA and CP Fair are gonna buy

SFMM since its park has been goin' on their way till over 15 cool

coasters meet up! too sad Californian would get lost its SF's proud!

me want 'em to keep in mind that SFMM's the holy spot for thrills!

[niiicolaaah]

Did it say anywhere which parks Herschend is looking into?

[coasterdude5]

I think the whole group except Magic Mountain.

[the sound]

Been thinking. Maybe Busch Gardens could buy SFMM. (Don't yell at me until I've finished!)

 

 

Busch Gardens has Africa and Europe. Obviously, in the near future, they may want to build Busch Gardens Asia, Busch Gardens Pacific, Busch Gardens South America, etc etc. I think they could buy SFMM, and close it for a year or so, to do it up, and change all the themeing, from random, to Asian themed, whilst selling maybe, 5 or 6 coasters, and themeing the rest of the rides to Asian themes.

 

For example, Gotham City could be turned into Tokyo, and have "Batman" turned into something to do with fighting Godzilla.

 

The Movie District could turn into Bollywood (India) and Riddler's Revenge can be re-themed to a Bollywood movie theme, or even could be demolished from the park, to make way for a better, more theme-able ride.

 

Samurai Summit can stay the same.

 

Rapids Ramp Crossing can be changed to "Mekong River"

 

High Sierra Territory( Which now includes Revolution and the Log FLume) could be changed to a "Himalaya" theme, rides such as Revolution changing to a Yeti theme (Sorry Disney!)

 

Baja Ridge could be themed to an Arabian Desert, although, X will probably be leaving, and possibly Viper to make way for a new coaster.

 

Cyclone bay will be Typhoon bay, De Ja Vu can be changed to "Eye of the Storm" Psyclone will go.

 

Six Flags Plaza (Remember, this doesn't include Revolution or the log flume anymore!) can be re-themed to a Beijing Marketplace.

 

Bugs Bunny World can be Astro Boy World, appropriate changes made.

 

Colossus County Fair will be re-themed to "America Town" (I'm out of ideas, ok!) And nothing can be changed.

 

Six Flags Hurricane Harbour can be Themed to the Philippines and renamed "Filipino Waves"

 

 

And there's my idea. Though, its probably a pretty crummy idea to the hands of most people. And it probably won't work, but anyway. here's my idea.

 

 

BTW, i spellchecked this.

[Gnome]

^ possibly, but it would take more then a year to patch the place up. More realistically speaking, they'd have some sort of 10 year plan and slowly do each section of the park at a time but that's assuming that Anhieser Busch would buy the park.

[christianscoasters]

I definetely agree that BG should buy SFMM. SFMM is a park with a lot of potential. All it needs somebody who is willing to care for it and not just trash the place. I see SFMM as a place where teens go to get a job and get paid and not care. Since when does BG do that? BGW has quite a few awards. Best Coaster, friendliest staff, cleanest park, best landscaping, and more. SFMM just has coaster awards (as far as I can think of). A theme park is a place to provide the general public a safe place to have fun with the family and forget their surroundings instead of a place to make money.

 

I wish it was as easy as buy the park and fix it up.

[kraxleRIDAH]

I read in an online article somewhere (I don't have the link anymore) where a Busch Entertainment spokesman said the company has no interest in acquiring any of the Six Flags properties, especially Magic Mountain. I remember the quote stating how the Anheuser Busch parks target a completely different clientel and in order to bring Magic Mountain up to par with their brand image and quality of their current parks would require a lot of time and investment --- and how the company's focus is primarily building on and improving their current assetts, rather than acquiring new venues.

 

It's wishful thinking to hope Busch Entertainment acquires Magic Mountain. But that's the key phrase. Wishful thinking. It's not going to happen. You can all agree that a Busch take-over of the park would be spectacular and list all the ways that they could manage a change, but in the end, it doesn't overpower the fact that the company isn't going to buy it.

[christianscoasters]

^That sucks, but their right. SFMM isn't even NEAR up to par with ANY Busch Park.