Wanted: buyer for theme, water parks -- OrlandoSentinel.com

Cedar Fair, the world's fourth-largest theme-park company in terms of attendance -- behind Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Six Flags and Universal Parks & Resorts -- is seeking a buyer, according to reports ...

[theme park guy]

The odds of these guys finding a buyer willing to keep the management team are slim. The most obvious buyer is Blackstone who would combine with Legoland and Tussauds to gain some economy of scale and US presence. This is not an industry that attracts investment professionals- it is like buying a sports team. It attracts egos who want to prove they can run a famous company and couldn't care less about existing management.

Cedar Fair has extremely old fashioned management. They wear it like a badge of pride but their techniques (low ticket prices, high in-park prices, add a coaster every year, cut to the bone on maintenance, no IT systems) have run their course and it's time to sell.

[Interested Observer]

Maybe they could beef up the Knot's Berry Brand and merge with Hershey.