Six Flags and Cedar Fair, parent company of Dorney Park, merging
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The parent companies of Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley's Dorney Park are merging, the companies announced Thursday.
Cedar Fair owns 17 amusement parks and water parks, including Pennsylvania's Dorney Park and Cedar Point in Ohio. Six Flags has 27 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada, including Hurricane Harbor and Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
After the deal, Cedar Fair shareholders will own approximately 51.2% of the combined company and Six Flags shareholders will own about 48.8%.
Six Flags shareholders will receive 0.58 shares of common stock in the new combined company and Cedar Fair shareholders will get one share of the new company for each Cedar Fair share they own.
Six Flags stockholders will split a onetime dividend payment totaling about $85 million one business day before the deal closes.
Cedar Fair and Six Flags Entertainment's boards both unanimously approved the deal.
The combined company will have six directors from Cedar Fair's board and six from Six Flags' board. The company will trade under the symbol FUN on the New York Stock Exchange and have headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, with some finance and administrative operations in Sandusky, Ohio.
