ORLANDO, Fla. – SeaWorld Entertainment has made a bid to buy amusement park owner Cedar Fair, the theme park company confirmed Tuesday.
Ohio-based Cedar Fair, confirmed it had received an “unsolicited, non-binding proposal from SeaWorld Entertainment.
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“The Cedar Fair Board of Directors will carefully review and consider the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and its unitholders,” a Cedar Fair spokesperson said in a statement.
Cedar Fair is the parent company of Cedar Point in Ohio, Knotts Berry Farm in California, and 11 other amusement parks around the country.
Orlando-based SeaWorld offered $3.4 billion for Cedar Fair, according to a report by Bloomberg Tuesday.
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SeaWorld, which has struggled in recent years as it battles public perception of its animal parks, plus losses from the pandemic, has come on strong in the past few months.
Third quarter revenue was up $415.1 million compared to the third quarter of 2020, to $521.2 million, according to SeaWorld’s third quarter report. An earnings report for the fourth quarter and all of fiscal year 2021 has not been released yet.
SeaWorld owns 12 parks around the country, including SeaWorld, Aquatica and Discovery Cove in Orlando, and Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in Tampa.
Cedar Fair also had a strong third quarter, with a record $753 million in net revenue.
It’s not the first time Cedar Fair has received an offer in the last few years. Reuters reported in 2019 that the company rejected an offer from Six Flags.