USA: Cedar Fair Announces to Acquire Two Schlitterbahn Waterpark Properties

The Cedar Fair Entertainment Company announced yesterday that the US operating group of regional amusement, theme and water parks has signed a definitive agreement to acquire two well-known waterparks and a resort in Texas for a cash purchase price of 261 million US dollars (around 231 million Euro) – the Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort New Braunfels and Schlitterbahn Watterpark Galveston. In addition, Cedar Fair has the right to acquire a third site for a cash purchase price of six million US dollars (approx. 5.3 million Euro), a property located in Kansas City (Kansas).

“We are very excited about the opportunity to bring these two award-winning Texas water parks into the Cedar Fair family,” said Richard Zimmerman, President and CEO of Cedar Fair. “These properties represent new markets for us with attractive demographics in the growing Central Texas region, and they align with our strategy to identify compelling opportunities to accelerate our growth and profitability. The investments we have made over the past five years to strengthen our back-of-house and customer-facing systems will support a smooth integration of these properties by ensuring a premium guest experience, strong team collaboration and superior execution.”

In 2018, the two Texas Schlitterbahn waterparks and the resort welcomed 1.2 million guests and generated annual revenues of approximately 68 million US dollars (around 60 million Euro). The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2019. (eap)