http://www.cedarfair...ry&story_id=210

It is official! Here is the official statement just released by CF. Also note that in the statement it reads:

Aaron Stone, a Senior Partner at Apollo, said, "We are extremely pleased to be acquiring this premier amusement park operator. We look forward to partnering with Cedar Fair's management team and employees to build on the many strengths of the Company. We are firmly committed to Cedar Fair's continued growth as an industry leading amusement park operator."

-Just a little insight for all of us who are worried

OMG. OMG. OMG. I'm... speechless.

Great. We're facked.

One must compare what is to be to what would have otherwise been. First of all we do not know what is to be. Second, we do not know what otherwise would have been. I doubt the company would be pursuing this "merger" absent necessity.

I still have some hope. It is possible that Apollo and their chariot (yeah, I stole that from Terpy, but he didn't use it in his last post) can do well.

"Aaron Stone, a Senior Partner at Apollo, said, “We are extremely pleased to be acquiring this premier amusement park operator. We look forward to partnering with Cedar Fair’s management team and employees to build on the many strengths of the Company. We are firmly committed to Cedar Fair’s continued growth as an industry leading amusement park operator.”"

You all worry to much.....They will continue to operate these parks normally. Shall we bring up some old "OMG NO Cedar Fair PLEASE!!!" threads?

Hope that means they don't replace Dick Kinzel(or any other CFEC management) with a programing director from ESPN(or someone who isn't already in the amusement park business). So the shareholders may get roughly 2.50 dollars more than would if they sold their share right now. I assume CF remains a public company until the sale is finalized, correct?

"Aaron Stone, a Senior Partner at Apollo, said, "We are extremely pleased to be acquiring this premier amusement park operator. We look forward to partnering with Cedar Fair's management team and employees to build on the many strengths of the Company. We are firmly committed to Cedar Fair's continued growth as an industry leading amusement park operator.""

You all worry to much.....They will continue to operate these parks normally. Shall we bring up some old "OMG NO Cedar Fair PLEASE!!!" threads?

...which means...nothing.

ALL acquirers always say that. Dick Kinzel said the same thing about the Paramount Parks management when they bought it. Most...are gone.

And yes, Cedar Fair remains a public company until its sale to a private company.

"Aaron Stone, a Senior Partner at Apollo, said, "We are extremely pleased to be acquiring this premier amusement park operator. We look forward to partnering with Cedar Fair's management team and employees to build on the many strengths of the Company. We are firmly committed to Cedar Fair's continued growth as an industry leading amusement park operator.""

You all worry to much.....They will continue to operate these parks normally. Shall we bring up some old "OMG NO Cedar Fair PLEASE!!!" threads?

...which means...nothing.

ALL acquirers always say that. Dick Kinzel said the same thing about the Paramount Parks management when they bought it. Most...are gone.

But that doesn't mean nothing anything either. It all depends on what they are trying to do.

They are trying to make money. That's what private equity companies do.

I'm excited about the new owners... I am confident they will try to build up the strengths (roller coasters, shrubbery, general park beauty) and the weaknesses (Dark Rides, Shows, Ride Theming) of Cedar Fair... I'm certain about this. They want to make a profit...

Will Kings Island be called, "an Apollo Management park", now?

There can be no assurance at this time that this deal will close. Another acquirer may offer more. Apollo could back out. Let's not count our new owners before the deal is done.

I was about to say something along those lines, people in a position of power always say what they think the people who vote for approval want to hear then when the time comes, they may or may not stick to what they said they were going to do.

They are trying to make money. That's what private equity companies do.

And not just private equity companies.

I'm excited about the new owners... I am confident they will try to build up the strengths (roller coasters, shrubbery, general park beauty) and the weaknesses (Dark Rides, Shows, Ride All Theming) of Cedar Fair... I'm certain about this. They want to make a profit...

Will Kings Island be called, "an Apollo Management park", now?

Fixed the weaknesses list.

I'm pretty sure KI will still be a CF park, just owned by Apollo because they haven't owned any other parks/park chains before.

Also, according to Cedar Fair's press release, the unitholders must vote on this transaction. They could possibly not vote for it, though that seems unlikely...unless a higher offer arrives.

So, give it to me straight, Terp, how bad is it?

Will current management remain the current management? Will new management be introduced or replaced? In short: Will we see any dramatic changes at my park?

Or, as HTCO put it, are we "Facked"?

So, give it to me straight, Terp, how bad is it?

Will current management remain the current management? Will new management be introduced or replaced? In short: Will we see any dramatic changes at my park?

Or, as HTCO put it, are we "Facked"?

I'm pretty sure he has said that no one knows.

The best answer I can give you at this time is it is just too early to tell. And I am not being unrealistic when I say this transaction may or may not even occur. Cedar Fair's own press release warns of, among many other things:

...uncertainties associated with the proposed sale of the Company to an affiliate of Apollo Global Management...

This is very interesting news! I think we all had some idea this may happen though. The debt load that Cedar Fair took on when they acquired the Paramount Parks was just too much to chew on, especially during such a poor economic climate immediately following the purchase. Like Terpy said, the deal still has to be voted on and approved by 2/3 of the outstanding units.

I wonder if this will open up some bidding to other chains here in the next few months. In all probability a management company could see the same things Apollo is seeing and attempt to acquire Cedar Fair for a marginally higher price than what is currently offered.

Oh, the things that happen during the off-season! I was starting to think this was going to be a rather boring off-season, guess I'll think again!

Cedar Fair has a 40 day window to seek other opportunities, and can entertain unsolicited proposals even after that window up until closing.

And just like that it happened. Dangit, I can't wear my Cedar Fair fleece to work anymore.

And just like that it happened. Dangit, I can't wear my Cedar Fair fleece to work anymore.

lol I totally agree.....I love my Cedar Fair Fleece jacket but what the fun of wearing around town showin off when that company won't exist lol....oh lets pray Cedar Fair stays with us

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BG0EB20091217

Can we change it to AKICentral.com now?

Honestly, some of you guys need to chill the hell out! Have you ever been any of their companies? Why don't you take that a spin. I mean some of you are all taking this news like this is going to happen...

Credit to Thrill Biscuit.

I seem to remember the same kind of hate posts when Cedar Fair acquired the park. Since then most of us have taken back those posts.

Assuming this deal goes through, I'd be surprised if so much as the name Cedar Fair changes (for a while at least if ever). While this company probably already has some ideas/plans as to what they would do to enable themselves to make a profit on this investment - I doubt spending money to change names is one of them. Looking at their other investments, it does not look like showcasing or developing the "Apollo" brand is part of their strategy (unlike Paramount which was promoting an overall brand).

Looking at their history (as much as I'm able to which isn't much and requires some belief in wikipedia), it looks like they buy companies that they beleive have short term issues (enables them to be purchased cheap) but good long term fundamentals (to enable future sale, IPO, or other tool that provides a return on investment for Apollo). While we can't forsee what will happen - Is CF the next Linens-Things (Apollo lost a lot of $ when they went bankrupt) or AMC Entertainment (Apollo made a boatload on this investment)? Only time will tell.

I already miss CF.

Funny how so many panic with a possible new owner. I remember when Cedar Fair came a calling and it was the end of the world. Things have been pretty good since that ordeal went down. So I wouldn't be too worried yet.

Some interesting thoughts on Apollo and how they opperate. They are very much a smaller version of Blackstone Group, which owns most recently Busch Entertainment, Merlin and a large portion of Universal. 3 very successful industry players. Also if you look at some of the investments Apollo has made you will see they have worked very closely with Blackstone a number of times.

As a stock holder I am not complaining about the buyout price right now of $11.50 per share along with what I have made in distributions. I may just have to take my buyout and look at BX now...

I think it is safe to say that fundamentally Cedar Fair is a solid company with long term potential. I mean, they are making money. Its just the size of their debt was negatively impacting the bottom line. Free from the massive amount of debt from when they purchased the Paramount Parks, they are a solid company.

It will be interesting to see if other potential deals for Cedar Fair come to fruition in the coming days. And it will also be interesting to see if 2/3 of unit holders approve this leveraged buyout.

And as I said in the other threads, I doubt that we see any real change in park level operating procedures in 2010. But what will the future for capital investment projects at the parks be? Who knows. It will be interesting to see what level of upper management stays on if Apollo does take control of the company. And we will loose some insights into the workings of the company, since it will be private and there will not be quarterly conference calls.

I don't think anyone's really panicking. The truth is, there's nothing but uncertainty in the future. Then again, that was the case even before this was announced.