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Cedar Fair Purchases Paramount Parks!


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From Yahoo News:

Press Release Source: Cedar Fair, L.P.

Cedar Fair, L.P. to Acquire Paramount Parks

Monday May 22, 8:58 am ET

- One of the largest regional amusement park operators in the world

- Combined annual revenues to approach $1 billion

- Combined annual park attendance to approach 25 million visitors

SANDUSKY, Ohio, May 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cedar Fair, L.P

. (NYSE: FUN - News), a publicly traded partnership which owns and operates

seven amusement parks and five water parks, today announced that it has

signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of the Paramount Parks.

Cedar Fair, L.P. will acquire the stock of Paramount Parks, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS - News; NYSE: CBSA - News) for

a cash purchase price of $1.24 billion.

The five Paramount Parks consist of Canada's Wonderland near

Toronto, Canada; King's Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; King's Dominion near Richmond, Virginia; Carowinds near Charlotte, North Carolina; and

Great America located in Santa Clara, California.

"This transaction offers a unique opportunity for us to acquire a

world- class asset portfolio," said Dick Kinzel, Cedar Fair's chairman,

president and chief executive officer. "It is not every day that we have the

chance to purchase five great family-oriented parks that fit extremely well

with our existing parks. This acquisition will provide exciting new growth

opportunities and the potential for meaningful incremental free cash flow as we realize $20-$30 million in annual cash flow synergies over the next 3-5 years.

It will also add significant geographic diversity to our portfolio of parks and

improve our position as one of the largest regional amusement park operators

in the world."

In 2005, the Paramount Parks generated revenues of approximately

$423 million while entertaining 12.2 million guests. Cedar Fair reported

$569 million in revenues and 12.7 million guest visits. On a combined

basis, the two companies generated almost $1 billion in revenues and

entertained approximately 25 million guests in 2005.

The transaction is subject to conditions, including regulatory approval

and other terms and conditions customary for transactions of this type, and is expected to close during the third quarter. Further details were not disclosed.

Cedar Fair was advised by Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and Rothschild, Inc.,

and Bear Stearns is providing $2.0 billion in committed financing in support

of the transaction. Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP provided legal counsel to

Cedar Fair.

Cedar Fair's seven amusement parks are Cedar Point, located on Lake Erie

between Cleveland and Toledo; Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles in

Buena Park, California; Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom near Allentown, Pennsylvania; Valleyfair near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Worlds of Fun,

located in Kansas City, Missouri; Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom near

Cleveland, Ohio; and Michigan's Adventure near Muskegon, Michigan. The Partnership's water parks are located near San Diego and in Palm Springs, California, and adjacent to Cedar Point, Knott's Berry Farm and Worlds of Fun.

Cedar Fair also owns and operates the Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark

Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. Cedar Fair's flagship park, Cedar Point, has been

voted the

"Best Amusement Park in the World" for eight consecutive years in a

prestigious annual poll conducted by Amusement Today newspaper.

Mr. Kinzel will host two conference calls and webcasts to discuss the

acquisition. The first call will be to answer investor and analyst questions

and is to be held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday, May 22, 2006.

The second call to answer questions from the media as well as follow up on

any additional questions from the investment community will be held at

1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. These calls can be accessed at 1-800-231-5571.

The live conference call and presentation slides may be accessed in

"listen only" mode via the Cedar Fair web site (http://www.cedarfair.com).

Both conference calls will be made available for replay starting at

approximately 4:00 p.m. ET, Monday, May 22, 2006, until 11:59 p.m.

ET, Monday, June 5, 2006. In order to access the replay of the conference

call, please dial 1-877-519-4471 followed by the access code

7426624 for the investor call and access code 7426623 for the media call.

Editors: B-roll of Cedar Fair's flagship amusement park, Cedar Point, is

available for download via satellite: Date: May 22, 2006. Time: 10:00 to

10:15 EDT. Satellite: AMC 2. Transponder: 1. Audio: 6.2 MHz. 6.8 MHz.

Down Link: 11720 Vertical Down. Trouble #: (440) 838-5377 Ext 254. Technical Contact: Jerry Patton, Classic Worldwide Productions, 5001 East Royalton Road, Cleveland, OH 44147. Phone: (440) 838-5377. Fax: (440) 838-1240.

Some of the statements contained in this news release constitute forward-

looking statements. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties

that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in

such statements. Although the Partnership believes that the expectations

reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important

factors, including general economic conditions, competition for consumer leisure

time and spending, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated construction delays and other factors could affect attendance at our parks and cause actual results to differ materially from the Partnership's expectations. In addition, risks and uncertainties concerning the acquisition include, but are not limited to, regulatory approval, the timely receipt of financing and the fulfillment of other specified

closing conditions.

PARK FACTS

Cedar Fair, L.P. Paramount Parks

Cedar Point & Soak City Kings Island

- Sandusky, Ohio - Cincinnati, Ohio

- Founded 1870 - Founded 1972

- 3.5 million visitors - 3.1 million visitors

(includes water park) - more than 55 rides and

- more than 65 rides and attractions

attractions - 453 acres

- 365 acres

Knott's Berry Farm Canada's Wonderland

- Buena Park, California - Toronto, Ontario

- Founded 1920, Acquired 1997 - Founded 1981

- 3.6 million visitors - 3.3 million visitors

- 755,000 visitors at three - more than 70 rides and

California Soak City water parks attractions

- more than 40 rides and attractions - 295 acres

- 160 acres

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Kings Dominion

- Allentown, Pennsylvania - Richmond, Virginia

- Founded 1884, Acquired 1992 - Founded 1975

- 1.5 million visitors - 2.1 million visitors

- more than 75 rides and - more than 55 rides and

attractions attractions

- 200 acres - 264 acres

Valleyfair Carowinds

- Shakopee, Minnesota - Charlotte, North Carolina

- Founded 1976, Acquired 1978 - Founded 1973

- 986,000 visitors - 1.9 million visitors

- more than 40 rides and attractions - 45 rides and attractions

- 160 acres - 246 acres

Worlds of Fun & Oceans of Fun Great America

- Kansas City, Missouri - Santa Clara, California

- Founded 1973, Acquired 1995 - Founded 1976

- 1.1 million visitors - 1.8 million visitors

- more than 40 rides and - more than 50 rides and

attractions attractions

- 350 acres - 180 acres (leased)

Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom

- Cleveland, Ohio

- Founded 1888, Acquired 2004

- 700,000 visitors

- more than 50 rides and attractions

- 670 acres

Michigan's Adventure

- Muskegon, Michigan

- Founded 1988, Acquired 2001

- 550,000 visitors

- more than 50 rides and attractions

- 235 acres

This press release and prior press releases are available online at http://www.cedarfair.com.

-----------------------------------

Source: Cedar Fair, L.P.

Regards,

Ryan

PKICentral.com - You know that last comment about not giving a darn about how they do it on America's Roller Coast? I was just kidding Mr. Kinzel. biggrin.gif

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Here's some notes from the conf. call:

-----------

Cedar Fair, L.P. hosted a conference call to answer questions regarding their acquisition of the Paramount Parks. Here are some highlights:

- Deal will provide more diversification. No park will contribute more than 22% of revenue.

- Will include Nickelodeon licensing agreement, currently a 4 year deal. There is an opportunity it to extend to other parks for an additional cost.

- The company expects to maintain the distribution policy.

- There are no plans to divest any of the properties.

- Management of parks is something that will be addressed.

- Movie tie-in agreements are still being reviewed.

- Star Trek: The Experience is included in the deal.

- Capital spending divided between the two companies can be spent in a better way.

- There was a number of interested bidders.

- There will be no changes that the public will see this season.

---------------

(source:http://www.pointbuzz.com/news.htm?id=915)

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I now live in California and if you have the way that they have runed knotts into the ground its pretty sad. That park was once a true family park and is basicly almost like the oc version of sfmm which is not good so lets hope that does not happen to Kings Island because I bet we will all be pretty mad if the park goes in to a more unkept state. So just to let you guys know I lived in Ohio for almost my entire life and it will be sad to see what will happe to my favoret park of all time.

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So they finally announced it laugh.gif Sorry guys, but when I said I was going to see if it was true, Cedar Fair already having bought Paramount Parks, I didn't expect a confirmation! So I couldn't get back to you on that, but I guess it pays to have friends in high places.

We're all part of the same Cedar Fair family now so I expect alot of visits from guys this season at Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom wink.gif BTW, from what I've been told, Cedar Fair has put a GREAT DEAL of thought into this to make sure not to repeat Six Flags, and in no way expects to ignore any of parks. So prepare for stricter managment, semi-better guest service, and a safer enviornment.

Former Paramount Parks employees, WELCOME!!!

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Two things:

First I find it a little suprising that PKI does not show the sale on their website

Second will our metal detectors stay b/c i know that cp doesn't have them,  it would save them some money though

I think they are keeping them because an article i read (i think it was the yahoo one) said they are keeping the safety measures.. i think CF isnt safe? i dont know.. but i think a SMART owner would keep them.. lord knows how many nut jobs are out there these days.. ecspecially Cincinnati(no pun intended if your not a nut job biggrin.gif )

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So they finally announced it laugh.gif Sorry guys, but when I said I was going to see if it was true, Cedar Fair already having bought Paramount Parks, I didn't expect a confirmation! So I couldn't get back to you on that, but I guess it pays to have friends in high places.

Yeah I was gonna post my video interview that I had with Kinzel for the upcoming admiral/rex documentary when we did lunch last weekend when he revelaed everything to me cause were old ocllege buds but I didnt have time to yet or to post on another screen name. darn skippy, we were too late.

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