Cedar Fair has signed a definitive agreement to acquire two iconic water parks and one resort in Texas – Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort New Braunfels and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston – for $261 million.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to bring these two award-winning Texas water parks into the Cedar Fair family,” said Richard Zimmerman, Cedar Fair’s President and CEO.
“These properties represent new markets for us with attractive demographics in the growing Central Texas region, and they align with our strategy to identify compelling opportunities to accelerate our growth and profitability.
“The investments we have made over the past five years to strengthen our back-of-house and customer-facing systems will support a smooth integration of these properties by ensuring a premium guest experience, strong team collaboration and superior execution.”
‘Award-winning Texas water parks’
Zimmerman continued: “Schlitterbahn employees are known throughout the industry for their innovation and dedication to the quality of the guest experience. Because of their work, the water park located in New Braunfels has been recognized as the ‘Best Water Park in the World’ for 21 straight years, and Galveston has received recognition as the ‘Best Indoor Water Park in the World’ for a decade.
“We look forward to adding these parks to Cedar Fair’s industry-leading portfolio of regional entertainment resorts.”
Additionally, Cedar Fair has the right to acquire a property located in Kansas City, Kansas, which previously operated as a Schlitterbahn water park, for a cash purchase price of $6 million.
In 2018, Cedar Fair entertained 25.9 million guests and reported $1.35 billion in annual net revenues. The two water parks and resort welcomed 1.2 million guests in 2018 and generated annual revenues of approximately $68 million.
Following this acquisition, Cedar Fair’s portfolio will consist of 15 parks, resort accommodations with more than 2,000 rooms across six parks, more than 600 luxury RV sites across four parks, and two marinas.
Cedar Fair’s five-year plan for growth
Earlier this year, Cedar Fair set out a strategic plan for growth over the next five years, including increasing interactive and immersive family attractions, special events, concerts and outdoor gathering spaces and developing adjacent land.
Image: Cedar Fair
