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Elitch's sold in multi-park dealby Bloomberg News Article Created: 01/11/2007 08:12:37 AM MSTElitches Gardens in downtown Denver Six Flags Inc., which is trying to reduce $2.2 billion of debt, plans to sell seven theme parks, including Elitch Gardens in Denver, for $312 million to a company led by a former Six Flags executive. The parks are: Six Flags Darien Lake in Buffalo, New York; Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver; Frontier City and the White Water Bay water park in Oklahoma City; SplashTown in Houston; Waterworld USA in Concord, California; and Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Seattle, the New York-based company said in a statement today. The parks generated $30 million of cash flow in 2006 and had attendance of 3.6 million, Six Flags said. The company, which will use the proceeds to cut debt, announced plans to sell the parks in June. One of its biggest parks, Magic Mountain near Los Angeles, isn't included in the sale. PARC 7F-Operations Corp. of Jacksonville, Florida will buy the parks. Its chairman is Michael Jenkins, a former vice president of Six Flags over Texas. PARC will simultaneously sell the parks to CNL Income Properties Inc., a Florida-based real estate investment trust, and lease them from CNL. The sale is expected to be completed in March, Six Flags said. It includes $275 million in cash and a note receivable for $37 million. Shares of Six Flags, the second-largest U.S. theme-park operator behind Walt Disney Co., gained 40 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $5.83 as of 9:44 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, for the biggest increase since Nov. 3. It slumped 32 percent last year. CEO Moves Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, the company's largest investor, won a three-month battle with former chief executive officer Kieran Burke for control of Six Flags in 2005. Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro banned smoking and hired staff to improve the parks' appearance, while adding entertainment including fireworks, shows and parades. Shapiro also wants to increase revenue with corporate sponsorships, including deals with Home Depot Inc., H.J. Heinz Co. and Papa John's International Inc. The company's third-quarter net income fell 16 percent to $164.7 million as sales slipped 1 percent to $540.7 million.
Six Flags Darien Lake Sale AgreementThursday, January 11, 2007 10:35 AM - WBEN/AP A deal to sell Six Flags Darien Lake has been reached, and property of the Genessee County theme park is expected to transfer to the new owner in March.Theme park operator Six Flags Inc. said Thursday it will sell seven parks to Jacksonville, Fla.-based PARC 7F-Operations Corp. in a $312 million deal.Shares of Six Flags gained 59 cents, or 10.9 percent, to $6.02 in morning trading on the NYSE.The transaction, which consists of three water parks and four theme parks, includes $275 million in cash and a note receivable for $37 million. Six Flags said its Six Flags Magic Mountain and adjacent Hurricane Harbor water park in Valencia, Calif. are not included in the deal and will be fully operational and open for business in 2007 and beyond.The seven parks also include Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver; Frontier City and the White Water Bay water park in Oklahoma City; SplashTown in Houston; Waterworld USA in Concord, Calif.; and Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Seattle.PARC will sell the parks to real estate investment trust CNL Income Properties Inc. and will lease them back from CNL.The sale is part of Six Flags' overall strategy to reduce debt and enhance its operational and financial flexibility. The sale, combined with a June 2006 sale of land underlying its Houston AstroWorld theme park for $77 million, will result in proceeds of $352 million to be used for debt reduction, according to the company.Obligations for 2007 season passes and any committed park events will continue to be fulfilled under the new ownership. While the Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens sites will not longer carry the Six Flags brand under the new ownership, any 2007 season passes purchased at the two parks will continue to be honored at all Six Flags branded parks for the 2007 season.
NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. theme park operator Six Flags Inc. (SIX.N: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Friday it expects to post a net loss from continuing operations in 2006, but added early indicators for this year were strong.The company said on a conference call that, so far, group bookings for the 2007 season were up 34 percent over last year and it had sold 50 percent more season passes than it ever had at this point in the season before.Group bookings and season pass sales account for about half of the attendance at its parks.Six Flags' shares were up more than 6 percent in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange.The amusement park operator has been reworking its business since a shake-up of its board and top management after investor Daniel Snyder won a long-running battle for control of the company in 2005.Six Flags has since been focusing on families, boosting promotional partnerships and selling some parks.The company said on Thursday it had agreed to sell three water parks and four theme parks for $312 million.Six Flags, which operates about 30 amusement parks in North America, expects total sales in 2006, excluding parks being sold, will be about $940 million, down 2 percent over the previous year, as attendance dips 13 percent, but revenue per capita rises 14 percent.Excluding parks being sold and management change costs, it expects to report 2006 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $190 million to $195 million, compared with $260 million in 2005.Six Flags shares were up 40 cents at $6.30 on the NYSE. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $11.93 to $4.53. ? Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Six Flags retains Magic MountainBy Alana Semuels, Times Staff WriterJanuary 12, 2007Magic Mountain's corporate roller-coaster ride is over for now: The Valencia theme park is no longer for sale.Park owner Six Flags Inc. announced Thursday that it had sold seven of its 30 theme parks and water parks — but not Magic Mountain, which local authorities feared would be sold as real estate."It became abundantly clear to us that this is going to be a great season," Six Flags spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said. "This is not the time to sell Magic Mountain."New York-based Six Flags, which said in June that it would try to sell some of its 30 parks to repay debt, announced the sale of seven properties for $312 million. Its stock jumped 47 cents, or 8.66%, to $5.90, on the news Thursday.Local authorities expressed relief that Magic Mountain, which generates more than 3,000 jobs for the region, will stay put."This is good news for the companies who are tied to the hospitality and tourism industry and for the many vendors who supply them with everything from soft drinks to uniforms and towels," said Larry Mankin, president and chief executive of the Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce. "It was the right thing to do."Mankin also said city discussions to rename Magic Mountain Parkway, an idea that rankled the theme park owner, had been dropped.Six Flags sold the seven parks to Jacksonville, Fla.-based PARC 7F-Operations Corp. PARC simultaneously sold the parks to CNL Income Properties Inc., which will then lease the parks to PARC under a 20-year lease, with the option to renew.CNL spokeswoman Carolyn Gosselin said the seven properties, which are located in Buffalo, N.Y., Denver, Houston, Seattle, Oklahoma City and Concord, Calif., would continue to operate as theme parks."We believe there is great opportunity in these parks," she said. "We have contracted with park management to return them to their original glory."Six Flags has been trying to return its parks to their former glory as well, under new management. Former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro became chief executive in December 2005 after Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder won a proxy battle that resulted in the ousting of previous management. Shapiro has vowed to make Six Flags parks more family-friendly.Marketing deals with companies such as Papa John's International Inc. and Home Depot Inc. make Magic Mountain an important part of the Six Flags portfolio, said Jeff Putz, chief editor of Coasterbuzz.com, an industry website.Analyst opinion about the sale was mixed.Although the $312 million in proceeds from the sale will help the company ease its "bloated" balance sheet, Six Flags originally expected $750 million when it first announced it would explore the sale of the parks, said Katherine Styponias, an analyst at Prudential Equity Group.She speculated that the firm might be holding onto Magic Mountain until the park began to perform better and then would sell it for a higher price.But David Miller, an analyst and managing director at Sanders Morris Harris in Los Angeles, said the company made the right call in keeping Magic Mountain.This is especially important in a region with many families looking for an alternative to Disneyland, he said."Los Angeles still doesn't have that many day consumer-oriented theme parks," he said. "There's more than enough room in the market."
I think they are just worried about the value of the land , not so much the park. Hopefully they do make the park "sparkle" again, that way they could increase revenue and never consider selling it again. But I doubt it.
Topic: 7 Parks Sold for $312M (Read 12006 times)
