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Six Flags [FUN] Corporate Discussion Thread

p. 91: Six Flags and Cedar Fair to enter "merger of equals" agreement, company will still be called "Six Flags"

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I don't know what going on but someone is buying a lot of Six Flags stock and the shares have practically doubled from 16 cents to 28 cents over the past two days.

 

Maybe Apollo is aggresively buying the shares.

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I don't know what going on but someone is buying a lot of Six Flags stock and the shares have practically doubled from 16 cents to 28 cents over the past two days.

 

Maybe Apollo is aggresively buying the shares.

 

You see what I mean. Six Flags Inc is their back up plan. What they have in store for us when they get us, I don't know. If they buy us, I hope it's good. It's very questionable if they will keep the current management there or establish a new one.

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Maybe a back-up plan. But it was not wise to think Apollo would want both Cedar Flags and Six Flags.

 

I still think Apollo would be the final nail in the coffin, they are in it the flip a company quickly and that will surely result in bulldozing SFA and moving those rides to sell that land to developers.

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Up .14 now. Here's the news from my stock ticker here at work:

 

Six Flags stock rallies after Cedar Fair deal fails

 

 

12:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time Apr 08, 2010

* Shares of Six Flags double in two days

 

* Cedar Fairs investor notes merger interest

 

 

By Tom Hals

 

WILMINGTON, Del., April 8 (Reuters) - Shares of bankrupt theme park operator Six Flags Inc have doubled in two days after a collapsed deal involving a rival indicated that values in the industry are improving, an analyst said on Thursday.

 

Shares of Six Flags, which operates 19 parks, rose from around 15 cents on Tuesday to up to 39 cents on Thursday. Volume at midday on Thursday was already six times the average volume for the last 10 trading sessions.

 

The rally was ignited after Apollo Management failed earlier this week to secure investor support for its takeover of Cedar Fair LP , which operates 11 parks.

 

In addition, a leading Cedar Fair investor, Q Funding III LP, said in a regulatory filing it had been approached by a group of Six Flags bondholders, known as the SFI Noteholders, about merging the two companies.

 

Q Funding said those conversations ceased when Six Flags switched its allegiance from a rival group of bondholders and adopted the proposed plan of reorganization crafted by the SFI Noteholders.

 

"The developments at Cedar Fair indicate that values throughout the industry are improving and bode well for the value at Six Flags," said Robert Goodman, a senior vice president CRT Capital Research in Stamford, Connecticut.

 

A higher value at Six Flags would also support the plan currently backed by the company, which is likely to be opposed by a group known as SFO Noteholders. The company supported an SFO plan as recently as early March and before switching sides Six Flags had criticized the SFI plan for putting too much debt on the company.

 

A higher valuation could also embolden more junior creditors, including Resilient Capital Management, which would be wiped out under the current proposed plan. The investment fund has asked the court to replace the company's management.

 

Six Flags did not immediately return a call for comment.

 

The case is In re: Premier International Holdings Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 09-12019.

 

((thomas.hals@thomsonreuters.com; 1-302-993-6283; Reuters Messaging thomas.hals.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((editing by Gunna Dickson)) Keywords: SIXFLAGS/

 

I've highlighted the part that mentions the Cedar Fair investor and the END of their talks with Six Flags.

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I think they would sell the park. The county would fight them if they threatened to close down the park. For all I know, the park has been doing well in this tough economy. The county could argue that there is no reason to close it down as a park, do to the amount of people that depend on it for summer jobs and recreation. It wouldn't surprise me if the county would attempt to buy the park itself, to prevent it from being closed.

 

But what makes you think Apollo would want to remove the rides and close the park? There are other smaller parks that are doing worst than SFA.

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^Because Apollo is looking to make a quick buck and SFA is the only Six Flags property where the land is worth more money to developers.

 

^^^thanks for that insight, I value your info.

Edited by larrygator
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^Because Apollo is looking to make a quick buck and SFA is the only Six Flags property where the land is worth more money to developers.

 

^^^thanks for that insight, I value your info.

 

Here is the catch to that. Yes, they could sell it to developers, but the developers would have a hard time dealing with the county for approval of things like homes and shopping centers. PG County already has enough homes and with the economy being the way it is, people can barely afford them. Due to this, there are a lot of houses that have been put up for sale and forclosed over the years because people cant afford them. So if Apollo told the county that there plans were to sell the land for housing development, the county would most likely say no to that. As for shopping centers, PG County has more than enough shopping centers. So those types of development plans come on the low end of a approval against an amusement park that gives jobs and recreational use to the youth. In my opinion, SFA is here to stay until it becomes almost non-profitable to operate it under Six Flags Inc.

 

As for the quick buck statement, that's exactly what people thought Dan Snyder was going to do once he bought Six Flags Inc. Everyone in the DC area thought SFA was going to become a huge parking lot for FED EX Field shuttle transportation. The same would be in speculation of stock holders and local government if Apollo bought Six Flags Inc. Selling one park is not going to bring the company out the hole. I have told many people that SFA can be a very good place under a good corporate and park management.

 

It would be a shame if it was sold to lets say a company like (Merlin Entertainment Group) and they built it up to the level of threatening Hershey and Kings Dominion. I always thought they would be a good management for Six Flags parks.

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^Because Apollo is looking to make a quick buck and SFA is the only Six Flags property where the land is worth more money to developers.

 

^^^thanks for that insight, I value your info.

 

Here is the catch to that. Yes, they could sell it to developers, but the developers would have a hard time dealing with the county for approval of things like homes and shopping centers. PG County already has enough homes and with the economy being the way it is, people can barely afford them. Due to this, there are a lot of houses that have been put up for sale and forclosed over the years because people cant afford them. So if Apollo told the county that there plans were to sell the land for housing development, the county would most likely say no to that. As for shopping centers, PG County has more than enough shopping centers. So those types of development plans come on the low end of a approval against an amusement park that gives jobs and recreational use to the youth. In my opinion, SFA is here to stay until it becomes almost non-profitable to operate it under Six Flags Inc.

 

As for the quick buck statement, that's exactly what people thought Dan Snyder was going to do once he bought Six Flags Inc. Everyone in the DC area thought SFA was going to become a huge parking lot for FED EX Field shuttle transportation. The same would be in speculation of stock holders and local government if Apollo bought Six Flags Inc. Selling one park is not going to bring the company out the hole. I have told many people that SFA can be a very good place under a good corporate and park management.

 

It would be a shame if it was sold to lets say a company like (Merlin Entertainment Group) and they built it up to the level of threatening Hershey and Kings Dominion. I always thought they would be a good management for Six Flags parks.

 

Your sense of loyality to your home park is causing you to have delusional thoughts about Apollo Group.

 

Do you know anything about Apollo Group?

 

Dan Snyder might have been flawed in his empire building strategy but he had a vision?

 

Apollo Group has no plans to invest a lot of money in Six Flags, that is not their forte. They try to turn a company around without huge capital improvement expenditures and then flip the investment for a profit, or cut bait and close shop if they can't turn it around.

Edited by larrygator
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^Because Apollo is looking to make a quick buck and SFA is the only Six Flags property where the land is worth more money to developers.

 

^^^thanks for that insight, I value your info.

 

Here is the catch to that. Yes, they could sell it to developers, but the developers would have a hard time dealing with the county for approval of things like homes and shopping centers. PG County already has enough homes and with the economy being the way it is, people can barely afford them. Due to this, there are a lot of houses that have been put up for sale and forclosed over the years because people cant afford them. So if Apollo told the county that there plans were to sell the land for housing development, the county would most likely say no to that. As for shopping centers, PG County has more than enough shopping centers. So those types of development plans come on the low end of a approval against an amusement park that gives jobs and recreational use to the youth. In my opinion, SFA is here to stay until it becomes almost non-profitable to operate it under Six Flags Inc.

 

As for the quick buck statement, that's exactly what people thought Dan Snyder was going to do once he bought Six Flags Inc. Everyone in the DC area thought SFA was going to become a huge parking lot for FED EX Field shuttle transportation. The same would be in speculation of stock holders and local government if Apollo bought Six Flags Inc. Selling one park is not going to bring the company out the hole. I have told many people that SFA can be a very good place under a good corporate and park management.

 

It would be a shame if it was sold to lets say a company like (Merlin Entertainment Group) and they built it up to the level of threatening Hershey and Kings Dominion. I always thought they would be a good management for Six Flags parks.

 

Your sense of loyality to your home park is causing you to have delusional thoughts about Apollo Group.

 

Do you know anything about Apollo Group?

 

Dan Snyder might have been flawed in his empire building strategy but he had a vision?

 

Apollo Group has no plans to invest a lot of money in Six Flags, that is not their forte. They try to turn a company around without huge capital improvement expenditures and then flip the investment for a profit, or cut bait and close shop if they can't turn it around.

 

I doubt that they would close the park since it IS making money,otherwise Snyder would've done so already & given the fact that AW & GL both closed & so far have no takers on the land that either park once occupied it'd be better for Apollo to try to run the park as it is rather than sell it out for real estate.

 

SFA Regular: It's a pipedream to hope for the county to take over management/ownership of the park because they cannot afford to do so,I would however love to see them hold SFI accountable for failing to follow through on their proposed ride additions that were presented to,and approved by the zoning board in 1999 however citing the failure of SFI to live up to their promises to implement such changes.

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I agree with you on some things. I went a little over board with the county trying to own the theme park. And yes, I do know of the master plan that they had proposed to the county. I don't know why they decided not to follow through with it, but all my sources tell me that they had plans to resume shortly after getting Hurricane Harbor in 2005. It would have only been 4 years sense a coaster was last added. Other sources tell me that the same was going to be done to (Darien Lake). If I'm correct, they also received a Hurricane Harbor just like us. Anyways, that's something that the old corporate management did, not the new. So holding SFI responsible would be pointless. And SFA just got Thomas Land, so they could argue that the park is still getting new additions.

 

The park does need a new coaster, which is what a lot of enthusiast are crossing their fingers on. We just have to wait and see what 2011 brings for us. If they don't want to give us a new ride, they could revamp Joker's Jinx to an indoor building structure. Would be great for a nice scary theme.

 

As for the rest of the company, SFI seems to be holding a steady balance on what the parks are getting in order to receive good comments from park guests. Shapiro did want to make the parks more family friendlier, which he is doing. The real goal is keeping everyone happy. Most of the Six Flags parks were crowded with teenagers, so trying to please one group is always shutting the door on the other. Maybe he can think of some kind of way to keep the thrill seekers happy. I would like for Shapiro to get on a steady agenda of giving a park a family ride one year, and then following it up by a thrill addition the next. Doesn't always have to be a monumental thrill ride, but just something to tie us over until the next break through of thrill evolution.

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I doubt that they would close the park since it IS making money,otherwise Snyder would've done so already & given the fact that AW & GL both closed & so far have no takers on the land that either park once occupied

 

The former AW plot was sold not too terribly long after deconstruction.

SF's has not owned that land for many years now.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Resilient-Capital-Management-prnews-451266709.html?x=0&.v=1

 

Resilient Capital Management, a holder of Six Flags Preferred Income Equity Redeemable Shares ("PIERS") notifies all PIERS (OTC Bulletin Board:SIXOQ.ob - News) and common shareholders of Six Flags (OTC Bulletin Board:SIXFQ.ob - News) concerning its Motion to Participate in the Confirmation Hearing (Premier International Holdings Inc., et al., Case No. 09-12019, Docket Number 1989) scheduled for April 28, 2010 which it filed last night in the bankruptcy court in Delaware. The motion can be accessed at http://www.kccllc.net/documents/8812019/8812019100414000000000011.pdf.

 

In its motion Resilient highlights the valuation work performed on Six Flags by Amherst Capital Partners, L.L.C. - http://www.amherstpartners.com.

 

Amherst valued the company at a total enterprise value of $2,679,000,000. At this valuation the holders of the PIERS are entitled to approximately a 100% recovery or approximately $300 million. This compares to the current market capitalization of the PIERS of $2.75 million (SIXOQ closing price $0.25 per share - 11 million PIERS shares outstanding).

 

This contrasts sharply with the inaccurate valuation work performed on the company by Houlihan Lokey and Lazard Freres (NYSE:LAZ - News). These purported "experts" valued the company at approximately $1.5 billion only days before the SFI Bondholder group offered a deal which the market valued at between $2.3 and $2.5 billion.

 

The SFI Bondholders are poised to take over control of the company, having wrested control from the common shareholders by entering into a transaction which benefits management at the expense of the PIERS and common shareholders. According to Resilient's motion, "The valuation contest has been skewed such that it has been conducted within an artificial range defined by the parties with the resources to pay the costs of admission to the contest and by a management team with a more than $100 million vested interest in a particular outcome."

 

Lance Laifer, CEO of Resilient Capital Management said, "A cottage industry of lawyers is conspiring with management teams to take companies into bankruptcy and enrich management teams at the expense of the very shareholders they are supposed to be protecting and representing. This motion is about much more than just Six Flags. When a management team can take over a company, drive it into bankruptcy and then emerge with ten times more equity than it had prior to the bankruptcy filing, the system is seriously messed up and people - mostly individual investors - are losing massive amounts of money unnecessarily". Laifer continued, "We filed our motion at great expense, because we believe that real people are losing real money on the basis of faulty valuation reports. Resilient is committed to making sure we do our part to highlight and fix the problem that seemingly has developed in the Delaware bankruptcy court and corporate boardrooms throughout America."

 

Resilient's motion alleges a pattern of conduct by the SFI bondholders and the Six Flags management team, including the following:

 

The SFI bondholders managed to raise over one billion dollars of consideration at approximately a $2.5 billion valuation even though it was battling management at the time it raised the capital.

 

The lawyers and other professionals involved in this case are working off of a wrong valuation for the current deal on the table and that this incorrect and low valuation is being utilized to encourage the Honorable Judge Christopher S. Sontchi to confirm a plan of reorganization that is based upon an artificially low valuation that fails to address the points raised in the valuation performed on behalf of Resilient.

 

Based on Amherst's valuation, management is poised to achieve a $150-200 million jackpot for steering the company into and out of bankruptcy and wiping out shareholders. It also points to under-explored and under-examined pockets of potentially substantial value, including Six Flags TV and the value likely to be realized from Six Flags' licensing business.

 

The Debtor's management team is continuing to clearly violate its fiduciary responsibilities to the PIERS and common stockholders of Six Flags.

 

During March at the confirmation hearing, management stressed that the company was off to a poor start in 2010, which contrasts with a recent NY Post article in which Mark Shapiro stated that, "we're having a terrific spring right now."

 

This motion supplements an earlier motion made by Resilient which calls for a Trustee to be appointed to replace management -http://www.kccllc.net/documents/8812019/8812019100211000000000004.pdf

 

Resilient is encouraging all shareholders of Six Flags to object to the Debtors' current plan of reorganization. Any such objections should be filed with the Delaware Bankruptcy Court at the following address:

 

Honorable Christopher S. Sontchi

United States Bankruptcy Court

District of Delaware

824 Market Street, 3rd Floor

Wilmington, DE 19801

T: 302-252-2900

Bankruptcy court in Delaware

 

To request more information or a copy of the Motion to Participate in the Confirmation Hearing scheduled for April 28, 2010 please contact Lance Laifer at laifer@gmail.com (Tel. 646-734-6657).

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If I were a shareholder, I would have to object the companies new plan. Shareholders have not been making much money under this new management. Maybe it is time for a new team to be brought aboard. One that really knows how to run a theme park chain. Or maybe the merge with Cedar Fair, that Capital Avenue had planned on will be good for the company.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10498517

 

Bondholders who have been fighting over control of Six Flags have agreed on a revised Chapter 11 reorganization plan for the theme park operator. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, holders of junior notes issued by holding company Six Flags Inc. will assume control of the New York company.

 

Holders of senior secured notes issued by Six Flags' operating subsidiary would have received about 93 percent of the equity in the reorganized company under an earlier proposal. Under the new plan, they will be paid $470 million in cash by the Six Flags Inc. noteholders to satisfy their claims.

 

Thomas Lauria, an attorney for the Six Flags Inc. noteholders, says all other creditors will be paid in full by the group, which put together a financing package to offer an alternative reorganization plan.

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Six Flags could exit bankruptcy next week.

 

Creditors of Six Flags Inc (SIXFQ.OB) reached a settlement that will clear the way for the theme park operator to exit bankruptcy just as it enters its peak season.

 

Deals

 

The deal ends a nearly yearlong Chapter 11 reorganization and cuts the company's debt from about $2.7 billion to about $1.15 billion. But the agreement also wipes out current shareholders, sending Six Flags stock down more than 50 percent.

 

"This creates a balance sheet that positions the company to grow the business on a long-term basis," Six Flags' Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Speed said after the hearing.

 

Speed said the company hoped to exit bankruptcy as soon as Monday. The timing depends on the finalizing of financing documents, a lawyer told the court.

 

Just before the court hearing started, two groups of bondholders reached an agreement that would allow a group led by Stark Investments, a hedge fund based in Milwaukee, to take control of the operator of 19 theme parks.

 

In return, a group of bondholders led by Avenue Capital Group would be paid $420 million for their bonds plus more than $50 million for additional fees and expenses.

 

Speed did not specify if growing the business included acquiring a competitor such as Cedar Fair (FUN.N) or finding a new owner for the company, which will have numerous hedge funds among its shareholders.

 

During testimony earlier this year, Speed said Six Flags had been approached by private equity group MidOcean Partners, real estate magnate Sam Zell, Providence Equity Partners, Apollo Management APOLO.UL and Far East International Holdings of Hong Kong.

 

Earlier this month the largest shareholder in Cedar Fair, Q Funding III of Fort Worth, Texas, said in a regulatory filing it had been approached by the Stark-led bondholders about merging the companies.

 

Cedar Fair owns 11 amusement parks.

 

Q Funding III did not immediately return a call for a comment.

 

SHAREHOLDERS WIPED OUT

 

During the bankruptcy, Six Flags switched its allegiance several times, from backing a plan crafted by lenders to one backed by senior bondholders, and finally to the current plan.

 

The company will borrow about $1.1 billion and sell more than $700 million in new shares. The money raised will pay secured lenders in full, as well as the Avenue Capital group of bondholders.

 

The new shares will be sold to bondholders in the Stark group, which includes Pentwater Capital Management, H Partners and Bay Harbour Management.

 

Six Flags stock fell 52 percent to about 8 cents in over-the-counter trading.

 

Among the shareholders whose stake is being wiped out is Resilient Capital Management, a hedge fund that held preferred stock known as PIERS.

 

An attorney for the group said shareholders did not deserve to be wiped out, especially when management could get 15 percent of the reorganized company as a performance bonus.

 

Judge Christopher Sontchi was not very sympathetic.

 

"I find it implausible at the highest level that further delaying this case will result in additional value to the estate and any value to the PIERS and common equity," said Sontchi.

 

While the Stark bondholders managed to overturn an agreed plan in their favor, they did so by coming up with financing to pay for it, something that Resilient has not done, Sontchi noted.

 

"The reality is that someone has come to the table with money and there is no better indication of value."

 

Sontchi also noted that Six Flag's chief executive, Mark Shapiro, had come in to turn around a company burdened with debt and had shown some positive results.

 

The case is In re: Premier International Holdings Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 09-12019.

 

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Among the shareholders whose stake is being wiped out is Resilient Capital Management, a hedge fund that held preferred stock known as PIERS.

 

Somehow I knew PIERS was in the middle of this. He didn't ask for much, just a long enough straw for the wine.

Edited by jray21
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http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/28/2148967/six-flags-reaches-deal-to-emerge.html

 

Six Flags Inc. resolved the final objections to its reorganization plan, clearing the way for the bankrupt theme-park owner to leave court protection by Monday, lawyers said.

 

Paul Harner, an attorney for Six Flags, and Tom Lauria, a lawyer for noteholders, announced a settlement between two groups of creditors today. The lawyers said they would ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi to sign an order approving the company's reorganization plan as early as today.

 

Sontchi praised the company's reorganization effort and said he would accept the order under a procedure called a certification of counsel. That procedure is typically used by judges to approve a settlement after both sides certify that a dispute has been resolved.

 

"The big strokes have been accomplished and peace has broken out," Lauria said. The company operates Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio.

 

Six Flags, based in New York, filed for bankruptcy in June with plans to cut debt by $1.8 billion. When the company exits bankruptcy, it will have debt of about $1.15 billion, Harner said. Today's hearing ended weeks of wrangling between two groups of noteholders over the company's reorganization proposal.

 

Under the settlement, senior noteholders owed about $420 million will receive $470 million in cash, Harner said. Those noteholders had filed court papers claiming they were owed interest on their debt because it was being paid off early.

 

A group of investors led by Stark Investments of the Milwaukee suburb of St. Francis, Wis., will buy $725 million worth of the new stock being issued by Six Flags to help pay off its debts.

 

No single shareholder will control the company once it exits bankruptcy, Harner and Lauria said. The biggest shareholders will be Stark, Bay Harbour Management, H Partners and Pentwater Capital Management LP, Lauria said.

 

Shareholders lost a last-minute fight to halt the company's exit from bankruptcy so they could try to show Six Flags could afford to pay them something. Sontchi rejected their request, saying more testimony about the theoretical value of Six Flags was unnecessary.

 

"The reality is somebody has come to the table with money and there is not a better record of value," Sontchi told a lawyer for shareholder Resiliant Capital Management LLC. "It appears that your client is simply out of the money," Sontchi said. A few minutes later, Sontchi ended the court hearing.

 

About 15 percent of the new stock to be issued will be reserved for management incentives. A new board and Chief Executive Officer Mark Shapiro will decide the details on the payment of that incentive plan, Harner said.

 

Shapiro and Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Speed will remain under the proposed settlement. The company's senior managers, including Speed and Shapiro, signed new, four-year contracts with Six Flags last year.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/30/AR2010043002502.html

 

Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is leaving the board of Six Flags and losing his equity investment in the amusement park company, a business he has chaired since winning a proxy fight five years ago. Snyder's departure from the board, and that of his friend and Redskins partner Dwight C. Schar, appears to bring an end to their involvement in the company, which has been on a wild ride since Snyder took over in 2005. Snyder's stake in the company when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last June was roughly 5 to 6 percent, but the stock had declined precipitously over the last several years as the company struggled.

 

Nine people, including Snyder's handpicked Six Flags chief executive Mark Shapiro, were named directors as part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan submitted by the company's junior bondholders, according to a filing submitted Friday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware. Under the reorganization plan, Snyder could not be reappointed to the board without the consent of those junior bondholders. A spokesman for Snyder released a statement Friday that said Snyder would not seek reappointment. "Mr. Snyder and fellow board member Dwight Schar declined the opportunity to remain on the board of directors because of their other business commitments," according to the statement by Snyder spokesman Karl Swanson.

 

The 49-year-old Six Flags collapsed last June under interest payments on $2.4 billion in debt that Snyder inherited from the amusement park's previous owners. Six Flags, which owns about 20 parks throughout North American, sought under Snyder and Shapiro to create a more family-friendly atmosphere by adding new rides and attractions. The company drew 25 million visitors in 2008 and in-park spending per customer has increased, although Six Flags has not turned a profit under Shapiro, largely because of interest payments. The current economic climate, with unemployment above 9 percent, has made it difficult for Six Flags to increase revenue. Snyder took control of the company after a bitter proxy fight in 2005. He brought in the energetic Shapiro from ESPN to resurrect the struggling business. Shapiro's strategy was to remake Six Flags into a more wholesome, family-oriented experience, emphasizing safety, cleanliness and customer service while forging partnerships with major sponsors such as Sara Lee and Chase Card Services.

 

The company doubled its income from corporate sponsorship and from season ticket sales, and it added themed attractions based on the Looney Tunes characters, the Justice League of America, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, the Wiggles and Thomas the Tank Engine. But its summer 2007 attendance was slammed by bad weather in Georgia and Texas, and by an accident on a ride at its park in Kentucky. The same year, it sold seven of its theme parks to a Jacksonville, Fla., company for $312 million in an effort to improve its balance sheet.

 

Six Flags slashed admission prices by half at several parks to improve attendance and cut a deal in 2008 with a Dubai developer to build a theme park in the Arab emirate as part of a huge entertainment complex. Despite improvements in operations and attendance, the company could not get out from under its interest expense of $175 million a year, which ate up a big chunk of earnings. In 2008, it said it would no longer pay a dividend to holders of certain preferred shares for the second consecutive quarter. The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Other major investors in Six Flags include Bill Gates' Cascade Investment and the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies.

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And check out these amazing party themes!

 

Diva's Delight — Get girly and glamorous

 

Totally Gross — Have a hurling good time

 

Pirates Rock — Ahoy mateys, rock the plank

 

Wiggles & Giggles — Have Six Flags of fun

 

The Super Hero — Save the day

 

Princess Pampering Party — We'll treat you like royalty

 

...what exactly is the difference between the first and the last one?

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