Purchase a four pack of 2010 regular Cedar Point admission tickets for just $140 – that’s a total savings of $43.96!
Or, get more thrill for your buck and pick up a four pack of 2010 regular Platinum Passes – each Pass is just $144 when you buy four, for a total savings of $64!
Hurry – these two offers are only good through January 15, 2010.
From the Sandusky Register…
There’s just one shopping day left until Christmas.
But if you want to buy an amusement park chain with 11 amusement parks and six water parks, there’s still about 32 shopping days left.
Cedar Fair has 40 days from Dec. 16 — the day it signed an agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management — to consider other offers. That period runs through Jan. 25, said Stacy Frole, director of investor relations for Cedar Fair.
“It’s referred to as a go-shop period,” she said.
If you want a chance to buy Cedar Fair, you’d better have a lot of money.
Apollo has offered $11.50 per unit and is taking on all of Cedar Fair’s debt.
That adds up to a deal worth $2.4 billion, give or take a few pennies.
Some analysts suggest Apollo’s offer is a bit low.
Cedar Fair must win approval from at least two-thirds of the unitholders for the deal to go through.
George Andrew Karolyi, professor of finance and global business at Cornell University, said the offer seems fair. He noted that $11.50 is a 28 percent premium over the closing price when the offering came out.
“A typical premium in most of these types of transactions is 20 percent,” Karolyi said. “It’s hard to imagine in this environment people would price it up much higher than that.”
Karolyi said he assumes other companies are looking at whether to try to top Apollo’s offer.
The BlackStone Group, which like Apollo is a private equity company headquartered in New York City, bought SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment late this year. It completed the transaction Dec. 1.
“I’m sure they’re probably asking themselves whether they should make a move on this Cedar Fair investment,” Karolyi said. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t. If they are making a serious push in this business, then why not?”
Cedar Fair won’t comment on inquiries it receives, Frole said. Any expressions of interest or offers would go to Cedar Fair’s financial advisors, Rothschild and Guggenheim Securities, Frole said.
Assuming that a better offer doesn’t come along, unitholders will be mailed proxy statements in February that include a ballot to vote on the Apollo deal, Frole said.
The unitholders may mail their ballots in, vote using the Internet or vote over the telephone, Frole said.
Each unit represents one vote, and the deal with Apollo must be approved by owners of two-thirds of the outstanding units.
“It’s very important for everybody to vote,” Frole said. “Like an election, every vote matters.”
The board of directors and Cedar Fair’s management team are in support of the deal, Frole said, encouraging people to read the proxy statement when they receive it.
Filed by Jan. 8, the Securities and Exchange Commission will have 30 days to review the proxy statement before it’s mailed. When it’s filed, though, it will be a public document, available at the SEC’s Web site.
John Sprau, a unitholder involved in a civil lawsuit that seeks to halt the Apollo deal, said he looks forward to reading the proxy statement.
“I am kind of anxious to see where we’re going from here,” he said.
From The Morning Journal…
SANDUSKY — Even with new ownership, the roller coasters will rise again in May when Cedar Point opens its 2010 season, its top executive said.
This week the amusement park’s owner, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., announced it will be bought by New York investment firm Apollo Global Management LLC. The acquisition made national news and will lead to changes on the company letterhead and its financial statements.
Cedar Point’s tangible assets will stay the same — Top Thrill Dragster will blast off, the Cedar Downs Racing Derby will spin and Snoopy will greet visitors around northern Ohio’s most famous Midway, said Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and chief executive officer for Cedar Fair Entertainment Co.
“The public won’t see any changes at all,” Kinzel said in an interview with The Morning Journal. “We’re going to be the same great quality and entertainment values that we had in the past.”
The only change that Cedar Fair will have is its financing, Kinzel said. The park’s money will come from Apollo Management Group, not the shareholders who buy and sell the publicly traded partnership units, he said.
“It’s business as usual,” he said. “It’s basically going to be the same company and if there was not a public event, most people wouldn’t even know it’s happening.”
Cedar Point next year will honor its group sales and season passes already sold, Kinzel said. The company also will keep its attitude of being a good corporate neighbor, he said.
“The involvement we have in the communities that we’re in is going to remain the same,” Kinzel said.
Sandusky will remain Cedar Fair’s corporate headquarters and the company will maintain its desire to be a good business neighbor, said Kinzel, who lives next to the park.
“Sandusky is our home,” Kinzel said.
“They would have to pry me out of here with bulldozers and dynamite,” he quipped. “Sandusky’s our home. It’s not only Cedar Fair’s home, it’s my home. This is it.”
Cedar Point visitors next year will get a new ride on Shoot the Rapids.
The new, 2,100-foot journey features a 85-foot tall hill, with a 45-degree drop, and another 49-foot drop to “shoot” through water rapids and rocks. The $10.5 million ride is the most expensive water ride Cedar Point has built, and it will carry about 1,200 riders an hour with 10-passenger boats taking three minute rides.
“All of our capital for next year is approved,” Kinzel said. “There’s going to be no changes to that.”
With two rollercoasters planned and smaller improvements spread out over Cedar Fair’s other parks, “it’s a $90 million package and that’s going to go ahead as planned,” he said.
Park officials will begin planning for the 2011 and 2012 seasons in February of next year, a typical schedule because some major rides are on the drawing board two or three years in advance, Kinzel said.
Cedar Fair will get a new board of directors, but Kinzel will stay on as chairman.
“Of all the discussions we’ve had, the main discussion was to get this contract done,” Kinzel said about the deal with Apollo Global Management.
The new members are not appointed yet, Kinzel said, although it may be possible to keep the company’s current leaders.
“They want management to stay in place,” Kinzel said. “I think I’ve got a great management team underneath me. They make me look good, they’ve made me look good for a long time. I think they want to keep that team in place.”
Earlier this year Cedar Fair sought buyers for its Valleyfair park in Minnesota and Worlds of Fun park in Missouri. Kinzel noted Cedar Fair had a “tremendous debt situation” to deal with this year and the company’s board wanted to solve that.
In October, Apollo Global Management approached Cedar Fair’s board about buying in, Kinzel said.
“We were approached by Apollo to see if we would be interested in doing this transaction,” Kinzel said. “They approached us on this. We didn’t solicit this at all.
“They certainly like the company,” Kinzel said. “They like the parks that we have, they like that the parks that we have make money.”
He conceded he still had much to learn about Apollo Global Management, which owns Norwegian Cruise Lines.
“They may see some synergies in there that we don’t know about,” Kinzel said.
From the Sandusky Register…
Take a deep breath, Cedar Point fans.
Cedar Fair’s CEO said Thursday visitors to the amusement park won’t notice many changes under new ownership.
“If we didn’t announce this, more than likely the public wouldn’t even know it took place,” Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel said.
The park will complete work on its new attraction for 2010, the Shoot the Rapids water ride, and investment in the park will continue, Kinzel said. There will be no effect on ticket holders.
“We have about $90 million planned for capital next year across our 11 properties,” Kinzel said, referring to Cedar Fair’s spending for rides and improvements at its amusement parks in the U.S. and Canada, including Cedar Point. “None of that is going to be disrupted.”
He said he also plans to go forward with upgrading a section of Hotel Breakers. Work on that section, built in 1926, was supposed to be done last year but was postponed.
“This is our crown jewel,” Kinzel said, referring to Cedar Point. “This is where the majority of the capital investment goes.”
Kinzel said the company still has a tremendous population base in Ohio and 17 roller coasters at Cedar Point — more than anywhere else.
The park markets to about 22 million people.
“Hopefully, when the economy turns around, we’ll get back to the attendance numbers we were at back in the mid-90s,” he said.
Kinzel said he doesn’t think Cedar Fair’s new owners will force employee cuts that would impact service to visitors at Cedar Point.
“We had to make a lot of cuts during the operating season and there will be no cuts, no staffing changes as a result of this merger,” he said. “There’s really no other means of cutting without jeopardizing service or quality. That’s a point I’m going to stress today with our employees.”
All contracts will be fulfilled for vendors who do business with Cedar Point, he said.
Cedar Point will also continue to be involved in the community and be an asset to the city, he said.
Kinzel said he expects Apollo will allow Cedar Fair to continue investing in Cedar Point, keeping the amusement park fresh and exciting.
“Hopefully we can grow Cedar Point, bring more people in and continue to add rides and attractions,” Kinzel said. “I know we’re going to have to add rides and attractions, because this is a capital-intensive business.”
From the Sandusky Register…
While Cedar Fair’s ownership is about to change, many factors will stay the same. Kinzel said he is contracted to stay on as CEO and will have an option to extend his contract if he and the new owners of the company reach an agreement for an extension.
“If I had to guess, it would probably be in March of 2013 my contract would be up,” he told the Register in an exclusive interview Thursday.
Kinzel will serve as chairman of the new board of directors assembled by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, if the deal worked out with the investment firm gets final approval. Apollo has agreed Cedar Fair’s headquarters will remain in Sandusky.
“We’re just a small spoke in their big wheel,” Kinzel said. “This is my home, and this is the home of Cedar Fair.”
On Wednesday, Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point, announced it reached an agreement with Apollo. The New York company owns many other companies, including AMC Entertainment, Harrah’s and Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Cedar Fair unitholders will be paid $11.50 for each unit. The deal is valued at about $2.4 billion, including the refinancing of about $1.6 billion in debt. It’s expected to be finalized by spring 2010.
The agreement in place gives Cedar Fair 40 days during which it may consider proposals from other companies.
By Thursday afternoon, the first batch of documents on the agreement were posted on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Web site.
Kinzel said there would be no major cuts or staffing changes because Cedar Fair already chopped its payroll and expenses to cope with the downturn in the economy.
Employee benefits won’t change either, he said.
Apollo will advise on financial matters but will leave daily operations in the hands of Kinzel and his current executive team.
The company said the merger hinges on acceptance by holders of two-thirds of Cedar Fair’s outstanding units, regulatory approval and other conditions. Kinzel said unitholders will get a letter before the vote detailing specifics of the proposed transaction before the vote.
Kinzel and Peter Crage, Cedar Fair’s corporate vice president of finance and chief financial officer, both said they believe people who own Cedar Fair’s units will support the agreement once they learn more about it.
Cedar Fair was in talks with Apollo “for some time.”
“Apollo approached us,” Kinzel said. “We did not approach them.”
