Hard Rock Park Files For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

[Oscar]

Myrtle Beach, S.C. After failing to find a buyer, Hard Rock Park asked a Delaware bankruptcy court today for permission to liquidate, signaling once and for all that it will not be able to reopen.

The park asked the court to convert its bankruptcy from a Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. Under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a business can continue operating while it tries to reorganize its debts, but under a Chapter 7, a trustee is appointed and the property and assets are sold off to pay creditors, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Despite considerable effort ... the debtors were unable to consummate a sale of all, or substantially all, of their assets on terms and conditions acceptable to the debtors, the [creditors] committee, and the lenders within sufficient time to permit an orderly conclusion of these cases under chapter 11, given the considerable constraints on, and ultimate availability of, postpetition financing," the filing states. "Because the bid and sale process has been unsuccessful thus far, there exists no reasonable prospect of success in the immediate future. ... Regrettably, conversion of their chapter 11 bankruptcy cases to cases under chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code thus appears to be the only remaining means of allowing the debtors' assets to be liquidated and potential causes of action to be pursued and monetized for the benefit of creditors."

The park, which said it was worth $400 million when it opened in April, was unable to attract any bidders willing to pay at least $35 million for the park at a Dec. 15 auction, according to court documents. The park closed and filed for bankruptcy protection in September .

It is still unclear whether the park will be sold in whole to one company - which may or may not run it as a theme park - or sold off piece by piece.

Financial documents filed in court show the park made $21.5 million from April 15 through September, and it owes nearly $300 million. It had hoped to bring up to 30,000 people a day during the summer and 3 million people a year through its gates.

The average person or company owed money by the park has close to zero chance of getting it back, experts say.

"In most of these cases, the unsecured creditors get nothing," said Leon Bayer, a bankruptcy specialist with the California firm Bayer, Wishman and Leotta.

Hard Rock International, the caf????????? and casino company, had licensed its brand name to the park for at least $2.5 million annually, but it is now asking a judge to allow the park to turn over various memorabilia and release them from the license agreement.

In a recent filing, Hard Rock said the park had damaged its reputation and did not live up to its agreement to thoroughly advertise and market the product.

"The park is not known as a destination of choice in Myrtle Beach, but is widely associated, as reported in the state and local news, with financial problems that have negatively impacted operations," the company said in the documents dated Dec. 23. "Hard Rock [trademarks] have been, and continue to be, harmed by the [park's] conduct."

One company, PARC Management based in Orlando, Fla., has said it is interested in running the park with a financial partner but would not put up the $35 million minimum bid. PARC, which manages amusement and theme parks across the country, entered the Myrtle Beach market earlier this year when it bought the NASCAR SpeedParks and Myrtle Waves from Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc.

An attorney for C + P Eighty-Six Ltd., which licensed the Led Zeppelin brand to the park, said in a filing the company worried about a new owner. In the filing, the attorney said there were no qualifying bids for the auction received before the deadline.

"C + P has grave concerns about the ability of any potential purchaser to maintain the high quality associated with the [Led Zeppelin] license," the document states.

[Turbo]

damn i thought we dodged a bullet

Damn! That sucks! I hope Cedar Fair buys one of the coasters!

[Coasterkidmwm]

Boned!

Cheap rides for lots of parks though.

I was heading down there in a few months! Lame!

Who really thought that this was that far off? They did things very badly with that park. It got what was coming to it. Sad for people who bought season passes of the 09 season though.

Epic Fail!

THE PARK IS GOING TO REOPEN!!!

Posted on Tue, Feb. 17, 2009
Judge approves sale of Hard Rock Park for $25 million
Lisa Fleisher
For The Sun News
Wilmington, Del. | A judge has approved the sale of Hard Rock Park to FPI MB Entertainment for $25 million. The sale is scheduled to close no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, but could happen as early as Wednesday.

Delaware bankruptcy court Judge Kevin Carey called the price adequate and the process rigorous. "Anyone who wanted the opportunity to bid had it," he said. FPI wants to keep the Hard Rock brand but has agreed to destroy any Hard Rock-branded merchandise before the park opens if there is no agreement on extending the license agreement, lawyers for the companies said in court.

The judge overruled the objection of Coastal Entertainment, a company out of Finland that said it wanted to bid $25.5 million. Officials with legal and accounting firms involved in the case it would take at least 10 to 14 days for the company's funding to come through to the United States, and they could not confirm a claim by the company that it had wired in a down payment of $2.5 million.

Carey said Coastal Entertainment came "to the court too little and too late." A lawyer for Coastal Entertainment, Karen Bifferato, said she believed her client's bid, given time, would have been the better offer.

FPI has said it wants to reopen the park by Memorial Day. It would take about three months to get it ready, including adding rides, arranging merchandising and designing new attractions and shows, the company has said in court documents.

"We're absolutely thrilled with the bankruptcy court's decision today, and we look forward to opening the park in the May timeframe," said David Wasson, a principal with FPI MB Entertainment. He would not say what was in store for season ticket holders and referred all other questions to Brandon Advertising, a Myrtle Beach company working with FPI.

Hard Rock International has already removed some memorabilia from the park - but not all the memorabilia it expected to find, said Richard Robinson, a lawyer for the cafe company. Robinson said he didn't know whether it was because the company's list of memorabilia was wrong or whether some of it had been stolen.

FPI had wrestled Coastal Entertainment in court over their competing bids. FPI said Coastal's offer was only better on the surface - and that it would not cover $2 million in taxes, administrative expenses and other contracts that were included in FPI's bid.

Most of the money - more than $20 million - will go toward covering several debts to Deutsche Bank, with some money left over for lawyers and administrators. Between $300,000 and $400,000 will be left to be divided among bondholders, who are owed about $255 million, said John Carroll, the trustee's attorney.

Anyone else who had been interested in buying the park is out of luck, trustee Fred Giuliano said. A local water park owner and former Horry County Councilman, Mark Lazarus, had said he was interested in purchasing the 55-acre amusement that sits on 140 acres of land.

During the hearing, the judge took Coastal Entertainment to task for the timing of its bid.

"I want to find out, where have you been?" Carey asked Bifferato. "This has been a sale case since last fall, maybe earlier than that. ... Are you telling me your clients just found out this park was for sale?"

He also asked what the people behind Coastal Entertainment do for a living, but Bifferato said she was not sure what she was at liberty to disclose.

Hard Rock Park, which licensed the brand name from the cafe and casino company, opened in April and closed and filed for bankruptcy in September. It said it employed 2,000 people at its peak.

Employees were sent W-2 forms in the mail two weeks ago, Giuliano said.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/679/story/787109.html

Has any park that opened in the last 10 years not had serious problems like this?

Cool! Mabye they will rename some of the rides! Mabey they will rename Eagles-Life in the Fast Lane coaster into Ozzy Osbournes Crazy Train!

It's good to hear that they'll be back for the 2009 season. I visited the park last summer and it was pretty cool. They had some decent rides for the Myrtle Beach Area. The cool rides were Led Zeppelin - The Ride, Maximum RPM, and Nights in White Satin - The Trip (Kool and fun psychadelic dark ride were your wear the 3D shades)!

Will definitely go back when I'm in the Myrtle Beach area this summer.