Cedar Fair Entertainment, owner of the Kings Dominion theme park in Doswell, Virginia, and a dozen other theme parks, rejected a buyout offer from SeaWorld Entertainment.
SeaWorld made the offer earlier this month for a reported $3.4 billion.
“We confirm that our offer to acquire Cedar Fair was rejected, Unfortunately, we do not see a path to a transaction,” SeaWorld said in a brief statement.
SeaWorld already owns Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.
Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair owns 15 amusement parks and water parks.
Orlando-based SeaWorld operates a total of 12 destinations, including the original Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, which opened in 1959.
Kings Dominion opened in 1975.
Both theme park operators have recovered from the pandemic, which closed parks and later limited capacity.
In the third quarter, which covered the busy summer season, SeaWorld parks attracted 7.3 million guests, 5.7 million more than the third quarter of 2020. Cedar Fair’s park attendance was 70% of 2019 levels, with record in-park per capita spending by its guests.
