Six Flags Completes Financing of Partnership Parks 'Put' Obligations
15 Maggio 2009 - 6:27PM
PR Newswire (US)
-- Announces Payment of Interest on Senior Notes Due 2013 NEW YORK,
May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Six Flags, Inc. (OTC Bulletin
Board: SIXF) announced today that it received the proceeds of a
loan from a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. to fund approximately
$53 million of 2009 "put" obligations related to its Six Flags Over
Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia parks, including Six Flags White
Water Atlanta (the "Partnership Parks"). The Company had previously
announced that, as of the end of the 2009 "put" period on April 28,
2009, it had received "put" notices from holders of units in the
limited partnerships that own the Partnership Parks, with an
aggregate "put" price of approximately $66 million. The general
partner of the Georgia limited partnership elected to purchase
Georgia units having a total purchase price of approximately $7
million, and an additional $6 million of the "put" obligations was
funded with cash that was being held in escrow. A subsidiary of
Time Warner loaned approximately $53 million to the Company's
subsidiaries that are obligated to fund the "put" obligations.
Interest on the loan will accrue at a rate of 14% per year, and the
principal amount of the loan matures on March 15, 2011. The loan
requires semi-annual prepayments with the proceeds received by the
Company related to the Partnership Parks limited partnership units
owned by the Company's subsidiaries. The loan is guaranteed by Six
Flags, Inc., Six Flags Operations Inc. and Six Flags Theme Parks
Inc. up to an aggregate amount of $10 million. The Company also
announced that on May 14, 2009, it irrevocably paid in immediately
available funds to the paying agent of its 9-3/4% Senior Notes due
2013 (the "2013 Notes"), interest on the 2013 Notes in the amount
of approximately $7 million previously due on April 15, 2009,
together with the additional interest owed, and distributed notices
to the holders in connection with such payment, in accordance with
the indenture. The Company has also chosen to take advantage of the
applicable 30-day grace period for making the semi-annual interest
payment of approximately $6 million due on its 4-1/2 Convertible
Senior Notes due 2015 (the "Convertible Notes") as it continues to
assess and evaluate the Company's restructuring options. Under the
applicable indenture relating to the Convertible Notes, use of the
30-day grace period does not constitute a default that permits
acceleration of the Convertible Notes or any other indebtedness.
Additional details regarding the Convertible Notes are available in
the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2008 filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. About Six Flags Six Flags, Inc. is the world's largest
regional theme park company with 20 parks across the United States,
Mexico and Canada, and soon will be expanding beyond North America
with destinations in Dubai and Qatar. Since 1961, hundreds of
millions of families have trusted Six Flags to combine
friendly-clean-fast-safe service with affordable, value-packed
thrills, record-shattering roller coasters and special events like
the Summer Concert Series, Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park. Six
Flags' wide array of entertainment options reaches all demographics
- families, teens, tweens and thrill seekers alike - featuring
themed attractions based on skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, the
ultimate daredevil Evel Knievel, movie franchises The Dark Knight
and The Mummy; as well as world-renowned, kid-friendly brands
including Looney Tunes, the Justice League of America, The Wiggles
and Thomas the Tank Engine. Six Flags continues to develop new
avenues for growth, acquiring ownership and management of Dick
Clark Productions, producer of such perennial television hits as
the American Music Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, the Academy of
Country Music Awards, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and So
You Think You Can Dance. Six Flags, Inc. is a publicly-traded
corporation headquartered in New York City. Forward Looking
Statements: The information contained in this news release, other
than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act. These statements may involve
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in such statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, among others, Six Flags' success in
implementing a restructuring plan and the adequacy of cash flows
from operations, available cash and available amounts under its
credit facility to meet its future liquidity needs. Although Six
Flags believes that the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance
that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important
factors, including the failure to successfully consummate a
restructuring and factors impacting attendance, local conditions,
events, disturbances and terrorist activities, risk of accidents
occurring at Six Flags' parks, adverse weather conditions, general
financial and credit market conditions, economic conditions
(including consumer spending patterns), competition, pending,
threatened or future legal proceedings and other factors could
cause actual results to differ materially from Six Flags'
expectations. Reference is made to a more complete discussion of
forward-looking statements and applicable risks contained under the
captions "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and
"Risk Factors" in Six Flags' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2008, its Preliminary Proxy Statement for
its 2009 Annual Meeting, and its other filings and submissions with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available free of
charge on Six Flags' website http://www.sixflags.com/. DATASOURCE:
Six Flags, Inc. CONTACT: Media, Sandra Daniels, +1-212-652-9393, or
Investors, William Schmitt, +1-203-682-8200, both of Six Flags,
Inc. Web Site: http://www.sixflags.com/
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