It looks like that proposed deal for SeaWorld Entertainment to buy the Cedar Fair parks will not happen.
SeaWorld just released a statement via its corporate website: "In response to inquiries from various stakeholders, we confirm that our offer to acquire Cedar Fair was rejected. Unfortunately, we do not see a path to a transaction."
That's it. So, it appears that there will be no deal to bring Snoopy and Shamu together, after all.
SeaWorld Entertainment had offered to buy the owner of Knott's Berry Farm, Cedar Point and other popular regional amusement parks for $60 per unit in cash. That would have worked out to about a $3.4 billion deal.
Cedar Fair has spurned multiple takeover attempts in the past, including a 2019 bid from Six Flags at $10 a share higher than SeaWorld's offer. Cedar Fair's parks attracted 27.9 million visitors in 2019, according to the TEA/AECOM Theme Index industry attendance report, while SeaWorld's chain of parks welcomed 22.6 million visitors that year.
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Well, we always have Universal Studios Japan in order to still see Elmo and Snoopy together.