Saturday, August 14, 2010

Freestyle Music Park Foreclosed and Possible Buyers

Freestyle Music Park is indeed foreclosed, but now here's some possible buyers for the park, including an interesting buyer that I had this strange feeling could buy the park (from Screamscape):

Park News - (8/14/10) I guess the rumors of a foreclosure starting were true. According to this article the official paperwork was filed by the park to the court to go ahead with the proceedings. At this point I guess it’s all a matter of if someone will step up during a liquidation to buy the park as a whole and try to save it, or if the attractions will end up being sold off piece by piece.
As for what has been going on behind the scenes for the past several months, I’ve heard a brief breakdown of the various potential bidders on the park and where things went wrong. Several major players as well as individual investors did look at the park and express interest, but in the end, no one could come to the table with a good valid offer.
One of the private investor groups that the park was hoping would come through was said to be that Exploration Holdings group backed by Tara Perry with connections to Jim Fowler. They were said to have made an offer that was considered acceptable by the Russian owners, but never could get their financing in order to seal the deal.
The other private group was rumored to be led by former Hard Rock Park staffer, Felix Mussenden, who knew he was the only player coming to the table with hard cash in pocket and was said to be attempting to low-ball the owners with a bid far less than the other. They obviously did not accept this, though apparently he did offer it several times. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him show up again at a bankruptcy sale hearing.
The big surprise is I’m told that Cedar Fair apparently expressed some very serious interest in the park, but was not willing to be rushed into a deal too quickly to compete against the private investors who were already making bids. Cedar Fair wanted to do some serious research into the property, and take their time to think about their options, which makes sense considering the last time they rushed into a deal too fast they almost bought Visionland ten years ago. I’ve got a feeling Cedar Fair’s attempted merger with Apollo earlier this year also may have played a role in this as well.
Who else kicked the tires? PARC Management was also said to be a serious contender for the property. How serious? Well they actually went go far as to put in an official “letter of interest” in the property way back in November 2009... but never followed through with anything more.


Exploration Holdings, Felix Mussenden, Cedar Fair, and PARC Management?

Hmmm... personally my favorite choice is Cedar Fair, because if they buy it, there could be some cool coasters in that park (keep in mind, Cedar Fair is known for their coaster count). But who knows? Maybe they're going to turn it into a water-park only place (like what Geauga Lake has become) to make Carowinds the destination of the Carolinas (as in GL, to make Cedar Point the destination of northern Ohio). I kinda doubt it though. I think Cedar Fair should also appear in that "bankruptcy sale hearing" and buy that park.

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