MADISON, Wis. — The Madison, Wis.-based Great Wolf Resorts announced that the company, which owns the Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, Ont., was being sold for US$703 million, including debt assumption to private equity firm Apollo Global Management in New York City.
The price represents a 9.3-per-cent premium over Great Wolf’s closing stock price on March 12. Subsequently, shareholder lawsuits have been filed challenging the transaction.
Great Wolf, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, owns and operates 11 family resorts in the U.S. and Canada. The first was opened in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., in 1997. The Board also approved a “poison-pill” shareholder rights plan to deter an unsanctioned takeover of Great Wolf by a company other than Apollo.
