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Parques Reunidos reviewing whether to sell/merge U.S parks

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Private equity firm EQT (EQT.N) has initiated a strategic review of the U.S. operations of Spanish amusement park operator Parques Reunidos that could lead to a sale of the business, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

JP Morgan is conducting the review, which could result in the sale or merger of the 15 leisure centres that the company operates in the U.S., the sources said on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

The review is at an early stage, and it is premature to predict its outcome, according to one of the sources. EQT could choose to retain the asset following the review, the person said.

The potential sale of Parques Reunidos' U.S. operations, which represents over a third of the group's core earnings, could be valued at around 1 billion euros, according to the second source.

The review would start after the summer season, when the parks witness their highest visitor turnout, the person said.

Parques Reunidos did not reply immediately to a request for comment. JP Morgan declined to comment.
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Would be interesting to see if any other operator would even be willing to take on an asset buy of this size at this stage. Six Flags/Cedar Fair would be unlikely to pursue another merger anytime soon, and it may be too big for either IB Entertainment or Herschend to take on.
 
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cookie said:



Would be interesting to see if any other operator would even be willing to take on an asset buy of this size at this stage. Six Flags/Cedar Fair would be unlikely to pursue another merger anytime soon, and it may be too big for either IB Entertainment or Herschend to take on.
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IB shouldn't even be in the conversation. They have a single functional amusement park, and two husks.

I could see United Parkseas scooping these up, maybe, to better compete with Six Cedars
 
Steel Curtain woulda make the ideal Technic themed coaster with the frame work and classic colour scheme. What other reason could they possibly need to give the go ahead?
 
Fiender said:
IB shouldn't even be in the conversation. They have a single functional amusement park, and two husks.

I could see United Parkseas scooping these up, maybe, to better compete with Six Cedars
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Gargamel said:
SeaWorld are trying to move away from their past image so acquiring these more thrill oriented parks would make a lot of sense for them
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From a 30,000 foot view and without digging deeper, SeaWorld's, ahem, United Parks & Resorts balance sheet is not all that leveraged. Presuming that these Parque Reunidos parks are parks are generating cash flow/income or United Parks & Resorts feel they can make these parks profitable, the company could use debt to facilitate the acquisition and as such, this could make a lot of financial sense for the chain as well. The thing that could hold this back is the current rate environment and of course too high of an asking price.

It'll be interesting to watch for sure.
 
Kennywood, Adventureland and Lake Compounce are three great acquisitions, considering what they are doing for Kentucky Kingdom im hopeful for the future of all the parks now under their control.
 
Consolidate it.

Consolidate it all!

But seriously, this seems like a really good outcome for these parks.
 
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I like this. I was thinking last week how great it was when the Cedar Fair and Six Flags rivalry was at its peak. Since the merger last year, the thought of a monopoly was a bit boring….unless blowing up Kingda Ka was Cedar Fair’s last spiteful middle finger from TTD!

Maybe some of that ‘old school’ rivalry will happen with Herschend having a few more big parks in their portfolio. I hope so because competition leads to innovation.
 
Ian said:
Maybe some of that ‘old school’ rivalry will happen with Herschend having a few more big parks in their portfolio. I hope so because competition leads to innovation.
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Narrowing things down to only NA parks with at least 1 coaster rated "thrill" or higher by RCDB (to eliminate the children-oriented places), this merger would give Herschend 7 bonafide amusement parks.

For comparison, Six Flags now has 26 and United Parks has 5.
 
Parques Reunidos seems to have squeezed out all the juice they can from those particular lemons, and have now managed to sell the desiccated husks while they still have some colour left. Hopefully, the new owners will treat the parks better.
 
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