Snyders SIx Flags "sinking fast"

[jrtmolar]

Redskins owner Dan Snyder had a little better year on the football field than as a businessman.



According to SEC filings, Snyder and his Red Zone hedge fund have poured some $50 million into his purchase of amusement-park operator Six Flags. Two years ago, when Snyder began building his stake in the company, it traded near $12 a share. In mid-November, after the company missed Wall Street expectations, the stock dropped to $1.91 and has mostly stayed there.

Securities lawyers say that a share price that low creates a perilous situation for Snyder. MarketWatch, among other business media, speculated that the company is “distressed” and listed it among those that may have to file for bankruptcy in 2008.

Should the stock price drop below $1, the stock exchange might be compelled by rule to delist it—which would affect its credit agreements and might send its other investors, such as Bill Gates’s Cascade Investment, running for the exits.

If Six Flags doesn’t begin to recover on its own, Snyder would have to support the stock aggressively. A reverse stock split is one possibility. Or Snyder and his allies, including McLean-based homebuilder Dwight Schar, a Six Flags director, may have to buy all the shares held by the public and take the company private, say attorneys familiar with Snyder’s situation.

Says one lawyer, “He can’t tolerate the price of Six Flags stock being this low for very long. Don’t expect to see the Redskins spending a lot of money.”

Some investors are wondering if the kind of change that turned around the Redskins season—the injury to quarterback Jason Campbell that allowed Todd Collins to shine—might revive the theme-park operator. But the Redskins owner has given no indication that Mark Shapiro, who as CEO gets some of the blame for Six Flags’ problems, would be the latest Snyder employee to get axed.


Maybe its a blessing??/????

[djnemo65]

Watching this guy closely for a decade now I constantly wonder how he became a billionaire, and why I am not.

[squrrelco3]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

Watching this guy closely for a decade now I constantly wonder how he became a billionaire, and why I am not.

Just pure guessing here...I'd say he got there by stepping on the little guy....

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by squrrelco3

Just pure guessing here...I'd say he got there by stepping on the little guy....

I actually read an article about him a few years ago that was interesting.

The Dan Snyder You Don't Know - Sports (washingtonian.com)

The guy hustled hard and deserves what he has. It's just that in the ten years that he has been a part of my life he has done some pretty dumb things.

[BrunellMVP?]

Even with the marketcap down to 180 million, its still be a hefty tab to privatize the company. You'd think with 27 parks, the land alone and the scrap metal, liquidation of salvageable equipment would be worth 200+ mill.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by BrunellMVP?

Even with the marketcap down to 180 million, its still be a hefty tab to privatize the company. You'd think with 27 parks, the land alone and the scrap metal, liquidation of salvageable equipment would be worth 200+ mill.

The land itself is probably worth over half a billion.

[Rajmahal33]

I've read that Washingtonian article too. Don't make the mistake of thinking Dan Snyder is a fool, b/c he is a VERY savvy businessman. If you have any doubts compare the Redskin's net worth when he bought the franchise to what it is today. We may not have won a lot of games since then but he is definitely getting wealthier in the meantime. Also, arguably, if we even had the success of say a tampa bay or seattle (usually playoff contenders but not exactly elite) over the same time period, Snyder could be a billionaire many times over by now. Even his meddlesome tactics (bringing in high priced/big name FA's and coaches, opening up practices while smoking his cigar, etc) stand to make him more money than the direct impact of these moves on the team b/c he keeps the redskins name in the media's mind throughout. As long as fans/media are talking about the redskins, whether it is singing our praises or tearing into us, he has kept us relevant unlike some other once golden franchises (SF, Miami, and Oakland come to mind). He is a genius for this b/c he puts out a sub-standard product (i.e. the skins record) but has increased his profit 2 or 3 times over by marketing and branding the hell out of the Redskins. Reminds me a little of Microsoft's business model, haha, and i'd say it's gone pretty well for them.

[dgack]

He is a savvy marketer and a successful businessman. Neither of those things have anything to do with his ability to run a pro football franchise correctly, unfortunately. Even if his heart is in the right place, like many successful business types, you rarely succeed in sports by constantly meddling from the top.

I see this kind of thing time and time again in my industry, where top execs from other businesses come in to run companies in industries they really don't understand. Ultimately the ones who succeed are those who hire the smartest people they can find and then get out of their way and let them do their jobs.

Meddling is a personality defect, not a leadership skill.

[squrrelco3]

Originally Posted by dgack

Meddling is a personality defect, not a leadership skill.

I'm stealing that for my signature...hope you don't mind...

[BrunellMVP?]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

The land itself is probably worth over half a billion.

I was thinking the same thing...parts worth a lot more than the whole, sort of what they did with Sears not that long ago..sell the poor performing sites for cash.

[bedlamVR]

I was wondering that when he had the problem in NO with the press and the 6 flags down there wather he was going to cntinue to develop the chain or look to sell off the land ...50 million for what is probably in excess of 2 billion in real estate is a savey investment ....

I just dont get why some people want to see successful people fail ?

[Campbell17]

Originally Posted by jrtmolar

Redskins owner Dan Snyder had a little better year on the football field than as a businessman.



According to SEC filings, Snyder and his Red Zone hedge fund have poured some $50 million into his purchase of amusement-park operator Six Flags. Two years ago, when Snyder began building his stake in the company, it traded near $12 a share. In mid-November, after the company missed Wall Street expectations, the stock dropped to $1.91 and has mostly stayed there.

Securities lawyers say that a share price that low creates a perilous situation for Snyder. MarketWatch, among other business media, speculated that the company is “distressed” and listed it among those that may have to file for bankruptcy in 2008.

Should the stock price drop below $1, the stock exchange might be compelled by rule to delist it—which would affect its credit agreements and might send its other investors, such as Bill Gates’s Cascade Investment, running for the exits.

If Six Flags doesn’t begin to recover on its own, Snyder would have to support the stock aggressively. A reverse stock split is one possibility. Or Snyder and his allies, including McLean-based homebuilder Dwight Schar, a Six Flags director, may have to buy all the shares held by the public and take the company private, say attorneys familiar with Snyder’s situation.

Says one lawyer, “He can’t tolerate the price of Six Flags stock being this low for very long. Don’t expect to see the Redskins spending a lot of money.”

Some investors are wondering if the kind of change that turned around the Redskins season—the injury to quarterback Jason Campbell that allowed Todd Collins to shine—might revive the theme-park operator. But the Redskins owner has given no indication that Mark Shapiro, who as CEO gets some of the blame for Six Flags’ problems, would be the latest Snyder employee to get axed.


Maybe its a blessing??/????

wow... this is gonna get ugly.

[redwagonskins]

Originally Posted by BrunellMVP?

Even with the marketcap down to 180 million, its still be a hefty tab to privatize the company. You'd think with 27 parks, the land alone and the scrap metal, liquidation of salvageable equipment would be worth 200+ mill.

You have to wonder what kind of liabilities they have though. There are all sorts of financing issues (i.e. debt in the form of loans and mortgages among) as well as legal liabilities (i.e. people choking on cotton candy while riding the coaster ans suing for $10 mill). And did he buy the company with pure cash or does he have debt he's paying off on that as well?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

The land itself is probably worth over half a billion.

Yeah that's pretty much exactly why he bought it. He didn't care about the park business, the intrinsic value on the real estate alone made it a decent investment.

[Campbell17]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Yeah that's pretty much exactly why he bought it. He didn't care about the park business, the intrinsic value on the real estate alone made it a decent investment.

He could always sell out.