Type Private Key people Spencer Hoage (CEO) Subsidiaries Creative Kingdoms | Industry Hospitality Parent organization Centerbridge Partners | |
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Predecessor Great Bear Lodge (Sandusky, OH), Black Wolf Lodge (Wisconsin Dells, WI) Area served United States and Canada Services Family Waterpark Resorts CEO Rubén A. Rodriguez (22 Sep 2015–) Headquarters Madison, Wisconsin, United States Founded 1997, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, United States Number of locations 14 (Four under construction and one under consideration) Founders Andrew Waterman, Jack Waterman Profiles | ||
Great Wolf Resorts is a chain of indoor water parks. The company owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. The company is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to a water park, each resort features specialty restaurants, arcades, spas, fitness rooms, and children’s activity areas including Yoga and bowling.
Contents
History
Black Wolf Lodge was founded in 1997 by brothers Jack and Andrew "Turk" Waterman, the original owners of Noah's Ark water park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Black Wolf Lodge was purchased by The Great Lakes Company in 1999. Later that year, founder and chairman Bruce Neviaser changed the name to Great Wolf Lodge and the company headquarters were established in Madison, Wisconsin. In 2001, the company built a second location in Sandusky, Ohio, and named it Great Bear Lodge. When a third location opened in 2003, the decision was made to place all future parks under the Great Wolf Lodge banner. The name of the Ohio location was changed to Great Wolf Lodge in 2004. The chain has since added twelve additional locations and has one in development.
On May 1, 2012, Great Wolf announced they were adding a new amenity or attraction to each of their resorts in time for the summer season. In addition, they spent over $4 million renovating the company's first two locations – Wisconsin Dells and Sandusky.
Apollo acquisition
On March 13, 2012, Apollo Global Management announced an agreement to acquire the company for $703 million. Following the announcement, an investor group filed a complaint in Delaware Chancery Court stating that the deal, in which Apollo would pay $5 a share, undervalued the company. On April 12, 2012, KSL Capital Partners made an unsolicited offer of $6.25 a share, and Apollo followed suit raising its bid to $6.75 a share. KSL then raised its cash offer to $7 a share on April 8, 2012, beginning a rare public bidding war. After Apollo upped its offer again to $7.85 a share on April 20, 2012, KSL Capital Partners later announced it would not be making additional offers. The company's shares traded as low as $2.18 in October 2011, but they climbed above $5 following the announcement in March 2012 and reached a 52-week high of $7.50 during trading in April 2012.
Centerbridge acquisition
On March 24, 2015, Centerbridge Partners reached an agreement with Apollo to acquire the Great Wolf chain for $1.35 billion. The acquisition was finalized on May 12, 2015.
Properties
Great Wolf Lodge locations:
Previous locations:
Locations under construction:
Locations under consideration:
Other brands
Great Wolf Lodge also manages the following brands:
In popular culture
Great Wolf's CEO Kim Schaefer was featured in the U.S. version of TV's Undercover Boss, which included visits to several lodges where she worked alongside a lifeguard supervisor, front desk clerk, and restaurant waitstaff as well as participated in the children's program.