Six Flags and Cedar Fair merging to create $8 billion theme park business

Two amusement park franchises based in the United States have announced a merger on Thursday to create a franchise worth roughly $8 billion.

Six Flags and Cedar Fair merging will create a larger franchise consisting of 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and nine resort hotels within the U.S. and Canada. Cedar Fair, which announced the merger, owns 17 of these amusement parks, including Cedar Point in Ohio, Knott’s Berry Farm in California, Kings Dominion in Virginia, and Carowinds in North Carolina.

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“Our merger with Six Flags will bring together two of North America’s iconic amusement park companies to establish a highly diversified footprint and a more robust operating model to enhance park offerings and performance,” Richard Zimmerman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Fair wrote in a statement on the announcement. “Together, we will have an expanded and complementary portfolio of attractive assets and intellectual property to deliver engaging entertainment experiences for guests.”

Justin Garvanovic

The press release cites the intellectual properties that the two park businesses own, allowing them to create new attractions based off of these properties. Six Flags owns the theme park rights to DC Comics and the Looney Toons characters, while Cedar Fair owns the rights to Charlie Brown and the other Peanuts characters.

The merger is expected to close by the end of the first half of 2024 after receipt of Six Flags shareholder approval, regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The combined company will have a board of directors made of 12 people, six from Six Flags and six from Cedar Fair.

“By combining our operational models and technology platforms, we expect to accelerate our transformation activities and unlock new potential for our parks,” said Selim Bassoul, President and CEO of Six Flags.

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The merger comes as the combined company seeks to compete against other theme parks in the U.S., including the Walt Disney Company and NBC Universal. Earlier this year, Disney announced that it seeks to invest roughly $60 billion in its theme park and cruise business over the course of 10 years.

Similarly, NBC Universal is in the process of opening a new park at its Universal Orlando location in Florida. The new location, Epic Universe, is expected to be open in 2025.