CoastersNSich Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 First discovered on CoasterBuzz: Sounds like Viacom and Paramount need to clear some room for their newly acquired DreamWorks live action division. They may be selling Paramount Parks and Simon & Schuster publishing... http://today.reuters.com/business/newsArti...ryID=nL13773148 In other words, here we go again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Coasterbuzz, usually full of s**t. WIth the new Nick Universe Expansions at PC last year and PKI this year, I doubt that the parks will be getting sold, a lot more money gets invested in them each year and with all the recent increase in thing s done by viacom for the parks recently, i dont see them throwing the parks away. They see them as very profitable now and even more profitable in the future as they become more sophisticated, advanced, nicer and disney like parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Bowser Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 LOL! Here we go again....I really dont see the parks getting sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Reuters usually has to have a pretty strong basis to put out a story such as that. It would be surprising but would actually make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I found THIS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I say, sell off Paramount Parks. It won't effect us because how much you want to bet Paramount Parks will buy itself or be brought by Paramount. The worst thing that can happen is Cedar Fair buys Paramount Parks. The parks are a good way to advertise Paramount movies and shows. Paramount Parks has been brought and sold since PKI first opened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 well, i tend to agree with the coasterbuzz comments, but the fact that it was reported through Rueters offers a better hint of legitimacy. Let's see what happens. It would appear that Paramount has put a lot of investment towards these parks only to sell- but crazier things have happened..... if the reds can trade one of the most popular figures and PR machines since Pete Rose and (early) Barry Larkin for a no name... i guess anything is possible.... (sorry, a little bitter about the trade). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I wouldn't doubt that the parks will be getting sold, it's just when it will be. It's clear that they don't want the parks. If you worked for Paramount Parks you would resign because you know you are going no where. With the new Nick Universe Expansions I bet they are hoping for a licensing deal. My guess on what enough money is, about 1.6 billion. If Cedar Fair would want to buy Six Flags they will be looking at Paramount Parks because it is a better buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 After December 31st, Viacom no longer controls Paramount Parks. We will then be under CBS. If Cedar Fair were to buy one or all of us, then the Paramount themes will be gone(so what?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Viacom owns CBS and Paramount. Last year the parks was moved under Nickelodeon Enterprises and it is owned by Viacom. Viacom is in control of all of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 With this many legitimate media sources reporting this news, I suspect it's pretty certain that the parks are on the sale block. Anyone know of any executives leaving full time positions? That would be an indication that the sale is close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Viacom is spilting in two. Which means we will be under a different board of directors, which means, it will NOT be Viacom. So where, it says Paramount Parks, A Viacom Company. Viacom will be removed. All Viacom is doing is trying to make money, so they are asking for attention by publicly saying what everyone already knows. "Give us enough money, and we will sell you the farm." Paramount Park can't worth more than 200 Million. Viacom is saying, give us that or more and you can have it. Offer someone more money than something is worth and they will sell anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I see what your saying on CBS and Viacom. If they will sell Paramount Parks for 200 million I will buy them. Paramount Parks is worth around 1 billion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Ha, the property value that I seen on the internet for Carowinds is only 30 Million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Cedar Fair gave 145 million for Geauga Lake. Back when Six Flag bought it it was way more. I can't find it now but it was somethng like 350 million. Posted at 11:45 PM EST (0445 GMT) Mar. 1st, 2005 -- Paramount Parks may soon have a new owner. The media giant Viacom is considering selling the parks to a group put together by Tom McGrath, a former Viacom executive. According to estimates, the park chain is worth between $900 million and $1 billion. McGrath's team indicated its willingness to buy the parks as an attempt to stop an upcoming auction of the chain. However, McGrath may not be the only eager buyer. Other members of the amusement park industry, including Cedar Fair, Universal, and Six Flags are being viewed as potential new owners. http://www.thrillnetwork.com/stories_view.php/890 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 http://maps.co.mecklenburg.nc.us/website/a...hp?tab=Property 14523 Carowinds Blvd. Total value for buildings, land, structures: $18,422,600 http://www.co.warren.oh.us/auditor/propert...unt_nbr=1202233 Paramount's Kings Island(amusement park only) Valuation: True Value, Assessed Value Land: $16,618,260 $5,816,390 Building: $35,960,000 $2,586,000 Total: $52,578,260 $8,402,390 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby_Doo Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I would like to see Universal buy them but what ever happens its for the best I guess I the only that would be bad is if Cedar Fair bought them. I DONT want that to happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenageninja Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 That's property value, they aren't going to put a value on the rides. Nice try guys. If PP is sold, it will be for close to a billion dollars. I'd like to see what happens with IJ, and TR:TR. Maybe they'll just make TR:TR a topspin in a box, with no themed stops so it can be what it's supposed to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I didn't want this to happen before but now I don't care. It can't get any worse than it is now. To have owners that want to invest in it and not run the other way when things don't go as planned has to be better. I would hate to see the theme go but I would get over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Bowser Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Just think if Universal bought PP we would have our cake and could eat it to aw well we would have Nick,Hanna-Barbera etc.But I really dont want to see the parks sold I like how it is now I had a feeling this would happen if paramount got ahold of Dreamworks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 The parks, IMO have been making significant progress in the last couple of years. Paramount Parks have continued to invest in the parks (adding WinterFest, and expanding FearFest). They must be doing something right if they have had one of the most visited seasonal theme parks for years. Heck, even Wonderland last year posted strong attendance figures. I don`t think they are running the other way because things aren`t going their way. I just think that they don`t see much growth opportunities in the parks. They make good money from the parks, but there is no way to effectively increase the revenue from the division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I don't think adding WinterFest did anything for the park. It may be doing good but it don't show. There sure isn't much buzz going around about it. It will all come out in the end, just give it time. Not putting in what would be a major attraction for 7 years probably would not increase the revenue. They like to say they have but they have done nothing compared to other park chains. We are talking about Viacom they have Disney money. Other chains are putting in 30 million dollar or higher attractions. Paramount don't seem to want to go over 15. I say Carowinds is one of the growth opportunities they have and they do nothing with it. I think Carowinds could be brought to PKI attendance if they would invest in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 The timing of this kind of surprises me...the whole reason for Viacom splitting up was to separate the "fast growth" businesses from the "slow-but-steady" ones. You know...the whole theory behind growth and income stocks. If businesses on the CBS-side are also expected to be high growth, what exactly is the rationale for the split? I found the statement about the parks only selling for $200 million kind of funny Keep in mind that Paramount paid $400 million for just the four domestic parks 13 years ago. The valuation of a business is a lot more than just the sum of its assets. The majority of a company's "value" is actually intangibles. Otherwise, if it was just based on hard assets, Google would be worth about $100K instead of it's current $124 Billion market cap. If Paramount Parks would be sold as a whole, the price would be in the neighborhood of $1.0-1.2 billion. Keep in mind that this isn't distressed real estate...PP has been leading its competitive set in results the last few years. Potential buyers? If Tom McGrath and his investors don't end up with it, my money is on the Blackstone Group. Just look at some of their other acquisitions over the last few years, and one look at their balance sheet tells you that the price tag is definitely within their range... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Paramount does put money into Carowinds. We got BORG running properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Carowinds got a used ride. They knew no one would buy it so they put it there. If you get lucky they may move SOB down there so they can fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carowinds2005 Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I think the Paramount Parks will stay Paramount instead of CBS. If you read the article below it talks about Infinity Broadcasting which is part of Viacom. In which Infinity has been renamed CBS Radio. But if you scroll down, it still refers to the parks as "Paramount Parks". Link- http://www.viacom.com/view_release.jhtml;j...eleaseID=126671 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Actually we got BORG because we have the best maintance crew in the chain, and no one else wanted it. So we took it. Same goes for the Flyers. PCW didn't want it, and we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Let's face reality. Odds are that Paramounts Parks won't be "Paramount" in the future. However, it'll take quite some time to find a buyer with the desire and capital for such an investment. If Viacom/CBS sells the parks as separate units, I'd say they could liquidate those assets fast. If the company insists on selling them as all or nothing - they may end up stuck with an asset they don't want. My opinion is that whomever buy PKI (and perhaps the other parks) will also be given the rights to Nickelodeon and perhaps Paramount for at least 10 years. This would make the sale more appealing and give Viacom/CBS free publicity. Anyway, I've yet to see anyone with money say they will or can realistically buy PKI and/or all of the Paramount's Parks. Let's just assume for the next 3 years, no major changes will happen. Have a great day! Italian Chef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I would think that Paramount Parks, if they are sold, would retain the licenses to all the Paramount, Viacom and Nickelodeon liceneses. The parks reach a large demographic of people that are exposed to those brandings. That being said, I like Italianchef said, do not foresee any major changes in the next few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Titanic_Mess Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Paramount Parks has always been "for sale". They may not have been actively seeking buyers in the past, but if the right offer came along, the park could have been easily sold. We were all aware of this. Paramount was seriously considering selling the land that PGA was located on back to the city of Santa Clara. After the riots that shut the park down a few years back, they were really never able to recover. That park lost money for 3 or 4 years in a row. It was bringing the entire company down. I believe things have made a turn for the better over the past couple of years though. There were rumors that Six Flags was interested in some, but not all of the parks. And another rumor that the parks were beign sold to one of the big park chains, but that PKI and PCW would not be sold. PCW is second in revenue to PKI. On a side note, I spoke to a friend in the corporate office of Paramount Parks located at Carowinds. She told me that Winterfest at both PKI and PC are performing way below expectations, with PC getting slightly more business than PKI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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