[MarkD]

I'm not sure if Universal will buy any more parks either...didn't General Electric sell off Port Aventura and cancel the plans for the new Universal Studios in Euroupe?

I think they are holding on to it for at least one more year.


Here is the article from Variety:





Posted: Sun., Jan. 16, 2005, 6:00am PT

Closing the book on Viacom pubs

Moguls lose small fries to bulk up on bigger meals

By JILL GOLDSMITH


Thump, thump. Big media's on a treadmill, shedding assets seen as non-core for the modern showbiz conglom.
Viacom's Sumner Redstone disclosed last week that he may be shopping publisher Simon & Schuster and Paramount Parks, along with small-market radio and TV stations that can't provide that big-city booty.
Time Warner, Walt Disney and News Corp. have all dumped sports teams. TW unloaded Warner Music and tried to sell Warner Books to Bertelsmann's Random House. Deal (said to be worth about $350 million) ultimately collapsed.
Random House or News Corp.'s HarperCollins would be logical buyers for Simon & Schuster. Viacom sold the house's educational unit to Pearson in 1998 for $4.6 billion. Round two would see a much smaller number.
And ubiquitous private-equity firms are always prowling for deals. Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital's $1.3 billion buy of Houghton-Mifflin from Vivendi in '03 was one of the heftiest publishing pacts in recent years.
Publishing, like music and sports, once sounded like good synergy with film and TV, but really wasn't.
"The profit margins are very skinny, unless you've got a big back catalog. It's a lot of work, a lot of hit or miss," says one Wall Streeter.
But remember: Moguls are losing their small fries to bulk up on bigger meals. Time Warner wants giant cabler Adelphia. Cash-rich Viacom threw ratings agencies into a tizzy Jan. 11 when Redstone said he may borrow much more -- debt rating be damned.

[Carowindsman]

I Know exactly who would buy Carowinds if Paramount got rid of there parks stuff. I would buy it that way Carowind would become the best premier park in the entire world lol. Wait now that i have woke up i think maybe Paramount Carowinds would go back to its original just being good old carowinds not owned by any particular company i would like that better.

[wdwspider]

Kent Buescher

That could be interesting for the parks and the man.

Not sure if he could muster up that much money to get all the parks though.


Also, I wonder f this would include the Borg 4D vegas show and hotel - I'm guessing no, but maybe it would be a licensing deal as said earlier.

[bgwfreak]

I Know exactly who would buy Carowinds if Paramount got rid of there parks stuff. I would buy it that way Carowind would become the best premier park in the entire world lol. Wait now that i have woke up i think maybe Paramount Carowinds would go back to its original just being good old carowinds not owned by any particular company i would like that better.

So you have a couple 100MM sitting around???

If PP is sold it could actually be good. PP really hasn't done that much with the parks IMO.

They've owned PP for like 10 years now and the movie theming really isn't that heavy at all at the parks.

It looked like they were going to at one time having the Star Trek charecters at the parks, etc. But lately all they have done is just try and use the parks to market their different products (CBS, Paramount, Nick, etc.)

[coasterbruh]

Was doing some thinking tonight and was just thinking about the situation. I had the impression that viacom was shopping each individual park but they are looking to get rid of the whole division of paramount parks. So that means they may not be any change in the way things are going because the person who purchases may just keep the parks the same but it will be just ran by another company other than viacom.

[RollerBee]

Well, boys it looks like Paramount Parks will be put up for sale, and some of the names on the list don't look to good.
From the New York Post:
"February 25, 2005 -- A team led by a former top Viacom executive has quietly approached the media giant about buying its Paramount Parks unit, The Post has learned.
Tom McGrath, who stepped down as head of Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Enterprises last summer, has lined up investment firms Spectrum Equity Partners and GS Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs' private equity arm, to back him in his efforts to acquire the theme parks business, sources familiar with the situation said.

As president of Paramount Enterprises and executive vice president of Viacom Entertainment Group, McGrath oversaw Viacom's theme parks, movie theater and music publishing businesses.

The group expressed its interest to Viacom earlier this year in an attempt to preempt an auction of Paramount Parks, which is expected within the next few months.

Sources say the division — which has amusement parks in North Carolina, Ohio, California and Virginia as well as Canada — could fetch $900 million to $1 billion. Viacom has told bankers that in the next few weeks it plans to begin formally interviewing Wall Street firms to advise on the sale of the unit.

However, one source close to the situation said the firm is expected to retain Citigroup to handle the process.

However, yesterday, Viacom co-president Tom Freston said in an earnings conference call that the company is in the "early stages of looking at potential opportunities" for Paramount Parks, which is viewed as a noncore asset.



A Viacom spokesman would not comment further. McGrath did not return a call seeking comment.

Besides the McGrath-led team, other potential buyers for the division include amusement park operators Cedar Fair, L.P. and Universal Parks, which is partly owned by NBC Universal and Blackstone Group, as well as other private equity firms. Six Flags and Busch Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of brewer Anheuser-Busch, are also viewed as possible but less likely buyers.

Viacom is putting its theme parks business on the block in what would be the latest in a string of asset sales at the media empire as it re-evaluates its strategy.

As The Post reported in October, Viacom is screening its options for its Famous Players Canadian movie theater chain.

The company is in the early stages of an auction, which has already attracted the interest of more than a dozen bidders, sources say."

[MarkD]

Besides the McGrath-led team, other potential buyers for the division include amusement park operators Cedar Fair, L.P. and Universal Parks, which is partly owned by NBC Universal and Blackstone Group, as well as other private equity firms. Six Flags and Busch Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of brewer Anheuser-Busch, are also viewed as possible but less likely buyers.

Well, well, well.

Way too much to speculate on now isn't it? One has to wonder when it will happen and how is it going to change the park.

Seeing how the park is not a "core" business I guess a sale is inevitable. If all of this does come down maybe they can send out a survey asking us who we would prefer to buy the chain. Universal has my vote.

[Dukeis#1]

This is all very interesting. I didn't think Viacom was going to sell the parks immediately, I just thought it was something they were considering for the future. Oh well...

If the Paramount Parks are sold, I hope Universal buys them as well. I guess Cedar Fair would be nice too, though I think they would probably stop all the themeing.

[Cephas]

So, Cedar Fair may be a serious buyer?...we don't have any intamin track in the park yet...

[RollerBee]

I image someone lower down the Viacom chain will buy up the parks and leave them as Paramount Parks as it would send a ripple thru out Paramount Pictures not having parks to advertise their new movies.