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Six Flags taps Euro Disney executive as CFO

2006-01-18

By Robert Niles: He helped cleaned up one financial mess. Now theme park fans will see if Jeffrey Speed can clean up another.

Six Flags has announced that the former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Euro Disney will join the company as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. While at Disney, Speed oversaw a 1.7-billion euro financial restructuring, including a 20 percent reduction in company debt, according to a Six Flags release. In recent years, Euro Disney, which manages the Disneyland Paris Resort, has added a second gate, the Walt Disney Studios Paris theme park, as well as renovated attractions at Disneyland Paris.

Six Flags has labored under a crushing debt load for the past decade, created when the regional Oklahoma-based amusement park chain Premier Parks borrowed heavily to buy the Six Flags parks and name from Time Warner. A U.S. recession stalled growth, then the company's resulting inability to invest in enough major new attractions compounded attendance problems. Six Flags' stock tanked, leading to the company's recent takeover by Washington, D.C. NFL owner Daniel Snyder, who now has hired Speed to complete his management team.

Readers' Opinions

From Russell Meyer on January 19, 2006 at 10:25 AM
I'm not sure what difference this will make. EuroDisney is a much different animal than Six Flags, and the situation is much more complicated, especially with Dan Snyder taking the reigns. I wouldn't be surprised if the first move is to sell off or close underperforming parks in favor of moving resources to 5 or 6 main parks.

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