Dennis Speigel, owner & founder of International Theme Park Services, Inc. (ITPS) has confirmed that ITPS was initially responsible for arranging the sale/purchase transaction for Adventureland Resort (Altoona, Iowa) to Palace Entertainment (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) / Parques Reunidos (Madrid, Spain).
Speigel said, “Adventureland Resort is one of the few remaining independently-owned parks of major park/resort status in the USA, a true ‘family treasure’ in the West/ Midwest.”
Palace Entertainment/Parques Reunidos currently owns more than 60 different leisure operations worldwide, with 24 across 10 different states in the USA. They are the second largest owner/operator of parks in Europe and the largest operator of water parks in the world.
Speigel and ITPS have worked closely with them for over 15 years, having been responsible for assisting in transactions of over 40 leisure attraction purchases for their company. Speigel said, “ITPS has transacted over $700 million in buy/sell arrangements in total over the last 18 years. We are clearly the leader in leisure M&A transactions in the industry. No one has successfully brought more deals to the ‘closing table’ than ITPS.”
ITPS has planned, designed, built, and operated major leisure facilities throughout the world, having worked on over 500 projects in 50+ countries, Speigel said, and has led the industry in realising new global leisure markets during its 39-year history. Speigel was part of the original Taft Broadcasting Company, which owned and operated Coney Island (Cincinnati, Ohio), Kings Island (Cincinnati, Ohio), Kings Dominion (Richmond, Virginia), Carowinds (Charlotte, North Carolina), and Canada’s Wonderland (Toronto, Canada).
Speigel said, “It has been a genuine pleasure to work in an industry that does not pollute the skies or contaminate the streams. At the end of the day, what we really do is put smiles on people’s faces and create memories to last a lifetime.”
