The Interpreter Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Cedar Fair, L.P. Completes Acquisition of the Paramount Parks 30.06.2006 22:22:00 Hier klicken für weitere Infos... SANDUSKY, Ohio, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cedar Fair, L.P. , today announced that it has completed its acquisition of the Paramount Parks from CBS Corporation , in a cash transaction valued at approximately $1.24 billion. Cedar Fair will assume the complete operations and management of the parks immediately. "The completion of this acquisition is great news," said Dick Kinzel, Cedar Fair's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "The five Paramount properties are well-run, top-tier parks in good locations with the potential to do even better. The acquisition brings us access to new markets with attractive demographics, such as northern California, the Carolinas, Virginia / District of Columbia and Toronto. We now have a well-balanced portfolio of operations with four parks producing annual attendance over three million visitors each (Cedar Point, Kings Island, Knott's Berry Farm and Canada's Wonderland) and, on a proforma basis, no single park contributes more than 22% of revenues based on 2005 results. Our combined operations now include 12 amusement parks, five outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and six hotels, and will entertain approximately 25 million guests annually." The five Paramount Parks consist of Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Canada; Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; Kings Dominion near Richmond, Virginia; Carowinds near Charlotte, North Carolina; and Great America located in Santa Clara, California. Kinzel added, "Cedar Fair's employees as well as many employees from the Paramount Parks have a long history and strong reputation within the industry. They have demonstrated their ability to drive solid returns on investments and are ready and anxious to begin integrating these five great family-oriented parks with our current properties." Kinzel concluded by noting that the Partnership will issue an additional press release in the near future to provide updated 2006 earnings guidance, which will reflect the revenues and cash flow of the Paramount Parks from the date of the acquisition, and information on the Partnership's long term financing. Cedar Fair's other 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. 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 the ability of the Partnership to combine the operations and take advantage of growth, savings and synergy opportunities. This press release and prior press releases are available online at http://www.cedarfair.com/ Quelle: Finanzen.net / Aktiencheck.de AG http://finanzen.net/news/news_detail.asp?NewsNr=410962 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Titanic_Mess Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Spoke to a friend who is working at what is left of Paramount Corporate out of Carowinds. This person said they have been told that representatives from Cedar Fair will be going to each Paramount Park over the next couple of months to give a 'Town Hall' type meeting to all full-time employees. Most will learn their fate at these meetings. My source at Paramounts feels many jobs will be eliminated, or relocated. The winds of change are upon them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIBeast Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 So, who won the bet in the other thread about the time that the deal would close? Next question for me is, will PKICentral be renamed? And, if so, when? After the season ends? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Cedar Fair has also changed there homepage to show all 5 Paramount Parks on there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight Of The Dead Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Hey i hope they keep it at "King's island" aslong nothing more is changed with the name.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 You will note that on that map it does NOT refer to any of the former Paramount Parks as Paramount's Name of Park. Instead, the parks are each referred to only by the park's name, without Paramount anything. I suspect this is our first real clue that the Paramount's name IS going to be history. Oddly, the map calls it King's Island and King's Dominion! Apostrophes???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Yeah on the main Cedar Fair home page, it says Kings Island...But King's Dominion. So I'm not sure. But Kings Island never had an ' in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Happy Dance! Happy Dance! In Atlanta! Ahhhh, we have our parks back without the Paramount Moniker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 And, at least for a little while (given the map), an apostrophe that Kings Mills and Doswell never had before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I had a feeling the deal would close today. I guess CBS didn't want to lose the Million dollars per day after 6/30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Well the map on Cedar Fair`s website now simply has "Kings Island" without an apostrophe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleHenry Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Anyone know what time the deal was finalized? We need to see who won! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 Well the map on Cedar Fair`s website now simply has "Kings Island" without an apostrophe. Yep. Now they need to fix Kings Dominion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 The image on the main page has Kings Island correct without an apostrophe. However, on the page talking about the actual acquisition, it still has an apostrophe. It will be interesting to see how soon changes start appearing in various places now that the parks are officially owned by Cedar Fair. I can`t wait to see what the new logo for Kings Island will look like. Certainly it won`t resemble the current PKI logo with the Paramount banner. But that is something we will have to wait until the offseason before we get a glimpse at that I believe. In regards to the PKICentral question. In case you haven`t noticed, if you type in KICentral.com, you are automatically redirected to PKICentral.com. I don`t know when we plan on switching over to just KI, but it will likely be after the park itself begins calling itself just KI again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 In regards to the PKICentral question. In case you haven`t noticed, if you type in KICentral.com, you are automatically redirected to PKICentral.com. I don`t know when we plan on switching over to just KI, but it will likely be after the park itself begins calling itself just KI again. It's going to take a long time to convert everything over to KICentral, that's IF we do that... Once again, it doesn't hurt anything to be PKICentral. In all honesty, the decision has yet to be made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow2k3 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 They may have the Parks on the main page, but they haven't done anything to their respective PP homepages just yet. We'll probably get something at the end of the season or near it. ~S~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 WHEN the park becomes officially just Kings Island, it would make little to no sense to be pkicentral....there's time. There's a lot of signage to change, a lot of stationery to go through, etc. And that's assuming that CF does change the name back to Kings Island. Although that currently looks like a virtual certainty.... It will be MOST interesting to see how ads refer to the park in about a week or so...if billboards continue to feature the Paramount name and mountain, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 WHEN the park becomes officially just Kings Island, it would make little to no sense to be pkicentral....there's time. There's a lot of signage to change, a lot of stationery to go through, etc. And that's assuming that CF does change the name back to Kings Island. Although that currently looks like a virtual certainty.... It will be MOST interesting to see how ads refer to the park in about a week or so...if billboards continue to feature the Paramount name and mountain, etc. I'm guessing we won't see any major de-Paramountization until after this season. If there's a Winterfest, they'd start to drop it on us then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam12 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Happy Dance! Happy Dance! In Atlanta! Ahhhh, we have our parks back without the Paramount Moniker! I'm standing beside myself!!! ROFL!!! As I said before! Kings Island has died Kings Island has risen Kings Island WILL COME AGAIN!!! -adam12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleHenry Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Kings Island has died Kings Island has risen Kings Island WILL COME AGAIN!!! -adam12 Get off the internet, you fail for making quotes like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveo3631 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I've visited KI since 1972, worked there longer than any other job, and have had it become a major part of my life. I thought it would be strange seeing it owned by Cedar Fair, and now, seeing Paramount finally taken away from the park's name......I'm excited about the possibilities this new owner brings. No more Lindner or Paramount interested in just profits, but a company that will care about the park and restore the luster to the KI crown! What excitement the next few years will bring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Winter Fest well depend if they are still selling tickets during the rest of the season. We might get a Winter Fest it might be set up already but who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Well, WinterFest isn`t "set up" already. The only visible signs that WinterFest is still around are the trees that are sitting in the back of Swan Lake. It will be interesting to see if they continue to sell WinterFest tickets in the coming weeks. If they do, then it will be an indication that they intend to hold WinterFest this year. We will know one way or the other by Labor Day. Personally, I hope they hold WinterFest again, making modifications to what they learned last year. Hopefully, it can become a profitable event and a way for Cedar Fair to realize revenue at Kings Island as well as Carowinds at a time when they otherwise would be sitting dormant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 *** Most of ya'll are too young to remember but this is a song that was a big part of Kings Island's Advertising in the mid 1970's. I thought it was appropriate to post this. So long sad times Go long bad times We are rid of you at last Howdy gay times Cloudy gray times You are now a thing of the past Happy days are here again The skies above are clear again So let's sing a song of cheer again Happy days are here again Altogether shout it now There's no one Who can doubt it now So let's tell the world about it now Happy days are here again Your cares and troubles are gone There'll be no more from now on From now on ... Happy days are here again The skies above are clear again So, Let's sing a song of cheer again Happy times Happy nights Happy days Are here again! *** Anyway, based on the fact that CF had that website ready to go at the closing, I'm pretty sure that they have all the other changes lined up and ready to go into affect in short order. You probably won't see a lot done until this weekend is over, but after that I'd say it will be a steady process at all the parks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN1993 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 The map that was posted shows CP and Soak City but when you look at KI the is no BB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight Of The Dead Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 whats gona happen to TR:TR ?? and IJST? they are highly theme rides. what will CF do with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 Anyone who thinks changes will wait til next season needs to reread the second sentence of the carefully crafted press release: Cedar Fair will assume the complete operations and management of the parks immediately. COMPLETE....Operations AND Management. Immediately. These words were chosen carefully. They mean what they mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 The map that was posted shows CP and Soak City but when you look at KI the is no BB. Not a separately gated water park. Just like Kings Dominion or Carowinds or Great America...or Canada's Wonderland. Soak City has a separate gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reclaimer Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 And that's why they call you "The Interpreter" TopGun, the reason Soak City is listed and not BB is simply because Soak City is a separate gate admission. You'll notice, for instance, Wildwater Kingdom is not listed for Dorney and Geauga Lake. (Granted, it is listed when you do the mouse-over, but it *is* part of the parks' names. You don't really hear KI called Kings Island and Boomerang Bay...at least, we haven't yet. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I wonder of we will start seeing changes in the next couple of months like lets say ummm... Stuff going down having to do with paramount. Also will they change the ride names? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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