Six Flags said it filed for Chapter 11 protection with the unanimous support of its lenders' steering committee.
The plan will result in a deleveraging of the company's balance sheet by about $1.8 billion, as well as the elimination of more than $300 million in preferred stock obligations.
"The current management team inherited a $2.4 billion debt load that cannot be sustained, particularly in these challenging financial markets," Mark Shapiro, the chief executive of Six Flags, said in a news release.
Great work Mark: taking a cue from the admin and placing the blame squarely on the previous management.
In addition to Dan Snyder who acquired the company in a proxy fight several years ago, other major equity wipe outs include Bill Gates and Jim Simons, whose Cascade Investments and RenTec funds, own 11.1% and 5.5% of the already worthless stock (page 5 of the Voluntary Petition below). We highly doubt this event will dent the latter's relationship with its PBs JPM and DB as they continue aspiring to new heights in purchasing every imaginable share of SPY and IWM available.
