Reports: Parent company of Kennywood, Idlewild & Soak Zone exploring sale of U.S. holdings

Western Pennsylvania’s landmark amusement and water parks — Kennywood in West Mifflin, Sandcastle Water Park in West Homestead and Idlewild & Soak Zone in Ligonier Township — may be up for sale as part of their Spanish corporate owner’s move to seek the value of all of its U.S. assets, according to an amusement park trade publication and Reuters.

Parques Reunidos, EQT, has hired J. Morgan to conduct a review of the Parques Reunidos, which owns about 15 theme parks in the nation. That review could lead to the sale of its properties in the United States, according to Theme Park Insider.

Palace Entertainment holds about 15 Parques Reunidos’ theme parks in the United States, including Kennywood, Idlewild & Soak Zone, Sandcastle, Iowa’s Adventureland, Southern California’s Castle Park and Raging Waters and the Noah’s Ark Water Park in the Wisconsin Dells.

Lynsey Winters, a spokesperson for Palace Entertainment, could not be reached for comment Monday night.

A source told Reuters that the review is in the early stages and its outcome could not be predicted. The company still may hold onto its properties once the review is complete, according to the source.

Another source estimated that Parques Reunidos’ theme parks in the United States could be worth about $1.09 billion, which represents more than a third of the group’s core earnings.

The review would start after the summer season, when the parks witness their highest visitor turnout, the source told Reuters.

Parques Reunidos acquired Kennywood, Idlewild & SoakZone, Sandcastle Waterpark and other properties belonging to Kennywood Entertainment of Pittsburgh in December 2007. At the time, Parques Reunidos operated more than 60 amusement parks, water parks, zoos and other entertainment venues across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.

Until Parques Reunidos bought it, Kennywood Entertainment had been a family business since F.W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan in 1906 bought the flagship West Mifflin park, once a picnic area accessible by trolley, from Monongahela Railway Co.

Idlewild has been recognized as the third oldest amusement park in the nation, having opened in 1878 as a picnic area and campgrounds accessible by the Ligonier Valley Railroad owned by Judge Thomas Mellon. The park was acquired by C.C. Mcdonald and Richard B. Mellon, Thomas Mellon’s son, in the 1930s and they made improvements. Macdonald purchased Richard Mellon’s interest in the 1950s and expanded the park. Kennywood Park Corp. bought Idlewild in 1983.