Frontier City, White Water Bay sold
By Paul Monies
The Oklahoman
A Florida-based real estate investment trust will buy Oklahoma City amusement parks Frontier City and White Water Bay from Six Flags Inc. as part of a seven park, $312 million deal, the companies said Thursday.
Six Flags shares rose more than 7 percent on the news in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock closed at $5.43 a share Wednesday.
The company put several parks on the market last year in an effort to cut its $2.2 billion in debt. After a lengthy sale process, Six Flags said it will sell its Oklahoma City parks and five others to PARC 7F-Operations Corp. of Jacksonville, Fla. The $312 million deal consists of $275 million in cash and a $37 million receivable note.
Speculation had centered on the sale of one of Six Flags' biggest parks, Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., but that park was not part of the transaction.
"We're pleased with the sale price for this portfolio of parks, particularly since we were able to retain the Magic Mountain parks,” Mark Shapiro, Six Flags president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "This transaction confirms the value inherent in our major market branded parks.”
As well as Frontier City and White Water Bay, the parks sold are: Six Flags Darien Lake in Buffalo, N.Y.; Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver; SplashTown in Houston; Waterworld USA in Concord, Calif.; and Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Seattle.
Six Flags said the seven parks contributed $30 million to the company's operations in 2006, with total attendance of 3.6 million.
As part of the deal, PARC will sell the parks to Florida real-estate investment trust CNL Income Properties Inc., which will turn around and lease the parks back to PARC.
The transaction is expected to close in March.
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