CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and Cedar Fair, the parent company of Carowinds, announced Tuesday that the merger of the companies is expected to be complete by July 1.
Six Flags shareholders voted to approve the merger in March. If approved by the Department of Justice, the merger would bring the Six Flags theme parks into the same company as Cedar Fair properties, including Virginia's Kings Dominion, Ohio's Cedar Point and Carowinds, the largest theme park in the Carolinas. The new company, which will be known as Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, will be headquartered in Charlotte with "significant" finance and administrative operations in Cedar Fair's base of Sandusky, Ohio.
Tim Fisher, the chief operating officer of Cedar Fair, will retain that position with the new company. Other corporate executives include Brian Withrow, Brian Nurse, Christian Dieckmann and Gary Mick, the current executive vice president and chief financial officer of Six Flags.
The close of the merger is subject to the companies meeting several conditions related to mergers, including meeting all regulatory conditions. It's unclear if the Department of Justice has completed its review of the deal.
TEGNA's VERIFY team found Cedar Fair shareholders would technically maintain 51% control of the new company. In this scenario, regulations do not require shareholders who maintain control of a combined company to vote on mergers. While this eliminates a procedural step, it also eliminates the opportunity for any Cedar Fair shareholders to oppose the merger.
In 2019, reports indicated Six Flags was interested in acquiring Cedar Fair. Last year, the two companies announced the proposed plans to merge.
The combined company will be comprised of 42 amusement parks and nine resort properties across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It also has a pro-forma enterprise value of approximately $8 billion based on both companies’ debt and equity values as of Oct. 31, 2023.
TEGNA's WKYC contributed to this report.