SANDUSKY, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and immersive entertainment, announced today it has completed the acquisition of two iconic water parks and one resort in Texas – Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort New Braunfels and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston – for a cash purchase price of $261 million. The acquisition advances Cedar Fair’s strategy to increase its presence in growing and attractive markets, further diversifying its portfolio of parks and leveraging its management expertise.

“Starting today, Cedar Fair is officially Texas proud,” said President and CEO Richard Zimmerman. “The completion of this acquisition is great news, and we are extremely pleased to be adding to our portfolio of entertainment properties two of the nation’s most treasured and award-winning water parks. For the employees and guests of those parks, I want to extend a warm welcome to the Cedar Fair family.

“Our company, whose heritage at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, dates back to 1870, has a rich history of acquiring and investing in strong regional brands in attractive markets,” continued Zimmerman. “The quality of the Schlitterbahn brand and the offerings of these parks are consistent with that strategy. Our plans are to update and refresh areas of both parks, yet retain the valued hospitality and genuine spirit of the Schlitterbahn brand that guests have come to appreciate over the years.”

In 2018, the acquired properties entertained 1.2 million guests and generated annual revenues of approximately $68 million. Cedar Fair expects the two Texas locations to achieve Adjusted EBITDA margins in line with comparable Cedar Fair park-level results as management implements a number of growth and operational initiatives over the next two years, reflecting an accretive EBITDA multiple post synergies.

With completion of the transaction, Cedar Fair’s portfolio now consists of 11 amusement parks, four outdoor water parks, an indoor water park and resort accommodations totaling more than 2,000 rooms and more than 600 luxury RV sites. Combined, the 15 parks and resorts will entertain more than 27 million guests annually.

In conjunction with the closing of the Texas water parks acquisition, Cedar Fair recently completed the issuance of $500 million of 5.250% senior unsecured notes, due 2029. Cedar Fair used the net proceeds from the notes offering for the acquisition of the two Schlitterbahn water parks in Texas, the purchase of the land upon which California’s Great America amusement park is located, the payment of fees and expenses related to those transactions and the offering, repayment of a portion of the Company’s senior secured revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. Further details regarding terms of the notes offering were outlined in Cedar Fair’s Form 8-K filed on June 18, 2019, with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Cedar Fair

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world, is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. Focused on its mission to make people happy by providing fun, immersive and memorable experiences, the Company owns and operates 11 amusement parks, four outdoor water parks, an indoor water park and four hotels. Its parks are located in Ohio, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Texas and Toronto, Ontario. It also operates an additional theme park in California under a management contract.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements as to the Company's expectations, beliefs and strategies regarding the future. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "believes," "project," "might," "expects," "could," "propose," "would," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "approximately," "intends," "plans," "estimates," or "anticipates" or similar expressions that concern our strategy, plans or intentions. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may change at any time and, therefore, our actual results may differ materially from those that we expected. While we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we caution that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and in the filings of the Company made from time to time with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

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