Ardent Leisure

History

Ardent Leisure was originally known as Macquarie Leisure Trust until it split from Macquarie Group in 2009. The company began by acquiring the existing Dreamworld theme park in 1998. In 2006, Ardent Leisure constructed a world-class water park, WhiteWater World. In 2009, Ardent Leisure acquired QDeck.

In April 2015 Deborah Thomas, former editor of Cleo and other magazines, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ardent Leisure.

Portfolio

Ardent Leisure owns and operates over 100 leisure assets including theme parks, tourist attractions, marinas, bowling centres, laser skirmish centres and health clubs across Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Theme Parks

Ardent Leisure began as the company which owned and operated the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast. Dreamworld was acquired in July 1998 - within a month of its establishment. The theme park has over 30 rides, shows and attractions across a 30-hectare (74-acre) park. In December 2006, an adjacent water park to Dreamworld opened. WhiteWater World features 14 different water attractions including some Australian firsts.

Bowling and Laser Skirmish

Ardent Leisure owns a variety of bowling and laser skirmish companies around Australia and New Zealand. The Australian AMF Bowling franchise was purchased off their original American owners and is now operated separately to the American centres. Some of these AMF Bowling Centres now feature M9 Laser Skirmish to enhance the guest experience. Ardent Leisure has also acquired Kingpin Bowling Lounges to complement their existing portfolio. These lounges offer a different bowling experience to the traditional experience offered at AMF. Collectively there are almost 50 locations across Australia and New Zealand.

d'Albora Marinas

A collection of seven marinas make up d'Albora Marinas - Australia's largest marina group. The locations in New South Wales and Victoria collectively are home to over 1400 vessels.

Goodlife Health Clubs

The Goodlife Health Club franchise is owned by Ardent Leisure. With 76 locations around Australia, Goodlife is the most dominant health club in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

Main Event Entertainment

Main Event Entertainment is a chain of entertainment centres in the United States. Based in Dallas, Texas, the chain operates attractions including ten pin bowling, laser skirmish, games arcades, rock climbing and mini golf. Main Event operates in 25 locations.

Thunder River Rapids Ride incident

On Tuesday, 25 October 2016 four people were killed at the Dreamworld theme park owned by Ardent. The Thunder River Rapids Ride they were travelling on malfunctioned and they were thrown onto a flooded conveyor belt.

Criticism was initially levelled when it was proposed to partially re-open Dreamworld for a memorial event, with proceeds going to the Australian Red Cross, on Friday, 28 October. This was later cancelled to allow investigations into the incident to continue unimpeded. Dreamworlds CEO Craig Davidson later said that it would not reopen till at least after all four funerals were held. This was decided by Ardent CEO Deborah Thomas.

By coincidence Ardents' annual general meeting (AGM) was scheduled for 27 October, two days after the accident. During the meeting CEO Deborah Thomas was criticised for not having directly contacted all the families of those killed. She was also criticised over her bonuses, totalling about $850,000, which were voted on at the AGM. Thomas later said that she would give the cash component of her yearly bonus, equalling A$167,500, to the Red Cross "... to support people affected by this tragic event.”. After the AGM Ardents share price dropped sharply after the incident, reducing its capital by A$310 million.