Thursday, February 13, 2025

Busch Gardens’ Parent Company’s Offer to Acquire Competitor Rejected

Dominator, a roller coaster at Kings Dominion, located in Doswell, Va. (Courtesy of Kings Dominion)

ORLANDO (Fla.) — SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (SEAS), the parent company to several theme parks across the country including Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA, has confirmed that its offer to acquire competing chain amusement park owner, Cedar Fair, L.P., has been rejected.

On Tues., Feb. 15, SEAS issued a brief statement that read, “In response to inquiries from various stakeholders, we confirm that our offer to acquire Cedar Fair was rejected. Unfortunately, we do not see a path to a transaction.”

Cedar Fair, L.P., which is the parent company of Doswell, Va.’s Kings Dominion & Soak City as well as twelve other properties across North America, released a statement on Feb. 1 that the company received an unsolicited non-binding proposal from SEAS for its purchase.

The proposal, which was reported to be for $3.4 billion, was carefully reviewed by the Cedar Fair Board of Directors after consultation with independent legal and financial advisors. At that time, the Board of Directors made known through a statement released by the company that it would determine the best course of action that would be in the best interest of Cedar Fair and its unitholders.

Though SEAS issued its own statement regarding the proposal’s rejection, Cedar Fair has not yet provided a comment at this time.

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