NEW YORK CITY-Amusement park operator Six Flags Entertainment Corp., headquartered here, said Monday that it has completed its balance sheet restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11. The restructuring reduced the company’s debt by approximately $1.7 billion.
Driving the restructuring was $725 million in equity committed by a group of new shareholders led by Stark Investments. The St. Francis, WI-based hedge fund manager first made a bid for what was then known as Six Flags Inc. this past November, five months after the theme park giant filed for bankruptcy.
In March, the Stark-led group announced a plan to lift Six Flags out of bankruptcy that would retain the company’s current management, Reuters reported. The Wall Street Journal reported last Thursday that a deal was struck among the Stark-led group and a group led by Avenue Capital that gave the Avenue-led group $470 million in cash, including $50 million to drop a challenge to the bankruptcy plan.
Along with the equity investment, the restructuring was financed by approximately $1 billion of senior secured credit facilities, and a $120-million revolving credit facility, Six Flags says in a release. In addition, an affiliate of Time Warner agreed to provide the company with a $150-million multi-draw term loan facility. As a result, the company’s debt load has been reduced to $1 billion, and its annual cash interest expense has been “significantly reduced” to approximately $75 million, the release states.
Six Flags’ president and CEO, Marc Shapiro, says in a statement that “with the restructuring completed, the company’s opportunities are no longer limited by the legacy debt levels. With our new balance sheet, we now have the financial strength to generate long-term sustainable growth while continuing to enhance the reputation and reach of our brand.” The company will apply to list its new common stock on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
