Six Flags, former Elitch Gardens owner, files for Chapter 11 - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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The board of Six Flags (OTCBB: voted last week to beginb reorganization proceedingsin U.S. Bankruptcyt Court for the District of The company listed assetesof $3.03 billion and debts of $2.3t6 billion in its filing. Cascade the investment firm for Microsofft founderBill Gates, owns 11.1 percent of the votingg securities in New York-based Six Flags, the largest bankruptcy documents show. Six Flags has 97.7 millio shares of common stockand 1.1 million sharesd of preferred stock. "The current managementy team inheriteda $2.
4 billion debt load that cannott be sustained, particularly in these challenging financialo markets," said Mark Shapiro, presidenyt and CEO of Six Flags, in a "As a result, we are cleaning up the past and positioningv the company for future growth ... Following a record year of performancsin 2008, which completed the three-yeart turnaround of our system-widwe park operation, this actioh to clean up the balance sheet pavews the way for a full revivap of the company," Shapiro said. Elitch Gardenz had operated for more than a century at a northwesfDenver site.
The old Elitch Gardensx shut downin 1994, and a new version of the amusement park opened a year later in downtown The local Gurtler family and its financial partneras sold the new park to Premier Parkse Inc. in 1996 for $65 million. It became Six Flags Elitcj Gardens twoyears later, when Premier acquired Six Flags Inc. and changef its corporate name toSix Flags. Six Flagsd sold off Elitch's and othet properties in 2007 in a series of transactions that left the Denverd attraction in the hands of CNL IncomeProperties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Orlando, Fla. CNL reportedlyt paid $312 million for the properties.
CNL arrange for Parc Management LLC of Florida tomanag Elitch's. Six Flags now operates abou 20 North Americanamusement