JANA Partners is pushing Six Flags to explore a sale again, according to The Wall Street Journal. It's JANA's second push this year, but this time there's no public letter and no statement from Six Flags. JANA pointed to disappointing second-quarter results, and Philip thinks interest rates explain the timing. About $1.48 billion of Six Flags' roughly $5 billion in debt has a variable rate, so the Fed's September hike adds about $4 million a year in interest, and each bond that comes due will likely be refinanced at a higher rate. That debt also makes a sale harder, because any buyer is mostly buying the debt.
Meanwhile, three more riders have sued Six Flags Magic Mountain over brain injuries they say they suffered on X2, and their law firm says more than 100 others have hired it. The complaints allege fraudulent concealment, claiming the park kept running the ride after learning of injuries. None of it has been proven, but the story keeps getting worse for Six Flags.
Enchanted Parks is running Halloween at all six of its parks, including its first season at the parks it bought from Six Flags. Every park has a daytime family event, four add haunted houses at night for an extra fee, and all of them offer allergy-safe trick-or-treating. Running both formats in a transition year lets the new owner see which one pays.
Finally, five Six Flags parks made the top 10 of a Stasher study of America's most overrated attractions, with Great Adventure at number two. The Hollywood Walk of Fame ranked first and Plymouth Rock third, so take the list with a grain of salt.
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