Six Flags Inc. is considering selling six of its 30 properties, including Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver, amid tumbling attendance at its theme parks.
About 13 percent fewer people visited Six Flags this year through Sunday compared with a year earlier, the second-largest U.S. theme-park operator said in a statement Thursday. The New York- based company said it’s close to violating the terms of $1.04 billion of loans and is negotiating amendments with its banks.
“This brand is much more damaged than we previously thought,” said chief executive Mark Shapiro, 36.
Attendance is down about 1.3 million customers so far this year, the company said.
Shapiro said he wants to sell the parks in the next 12 to 24 months. The company has received inquiries from potential buyers, Shapiro said. He declined to identify interested parties.
Ticket sales suffered as Six Flags tried to keep rowdy teenagers out of its parks, executives said. Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder ousted the company’s previous management and took over the company in December with the intent to end two straight years of falling attendance.
Shares of Six Flags tumbled $1.29, or 17 percent, to $6.16 after the close of New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Before Thursday, the stock was up 36 percent since Snyder announced his intention last August to replace three board members.
Walt Disney Co. is the biggest U.S. theme-park operator.
Six Flags may sell parks outside Seattle and Buffalo, N.Y.; in Denver, Houston and Concord, Calif.; and Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor near Los Angeles. The company started in 1961 as the Six Flags Over Texas theme park.
Six Flags will boost spending by $15 million this year to hire staff and lure back customers, Shapiro said. The company had previously forecast a $45 million increase in cash operating expenses for the year.
