Quick facts for kidsGreat Wolf Resorts Private Industry Hospitality Predecessor Great Bear Lodge (Sandusky, OH), Black Wolf Lodge (Wisconsin Dells, WI) Founded Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, United States (May 1997 (1997-05)) Founder Jack and Andrew Waterman Headquarters , 19 (one under construction and eight under consideration) United States and Canada Murray Hennessy (CEO) Services Family Waterpark Resorts 6,000 Parent Apollo Global Management, Centerbridge Partners and Blackstone Group

Great Wolf Resorts (formerly known as Great Wolf Lodge) is a chain of indoor water parks. The company owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. In addition to a water park, each resort features restaurants, arcades, spas and children’s activities. Great Wolf Resorts is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The Resorts’ mascots are Wiley the Wolf, Violet the Wolf, and Oliver Raccoon with additional characters like Rachel Raccoon, Brinley Bear, and Sammy the Squirrel.

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History

Great Wolf Lodge began as a small indoor water park resort called Black Wolf Lodge which 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 Companies Inc in 1999. In 2000, founders Marc Vaccaro and 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 sixteen additional locations and has one under construction.

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.

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In April 2017, Great Wolf relocated their corporate headquarters to Chicago, Illinois.

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.

Blackstone and Centerbridge Joint Venture

In September 2019, Blackstone Group made a deal to purchase 65% controlling interest in Great Wolf Resorts from Centerbridge Partners. The two firms agreed to form a $2.9 billion joint-venture to own the company.

Properties

Great Wolf Lodge locations:

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City Year Opened Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin 1997 Sandusky, Ohio 2001 Traverse City, Michigan 2003 Kansas City, Kansas 2003 Williamsburg, Virginia 2005 Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania 2005 Niagara Falls, Ontario 2006 Mason, Ohio 2006 Grapevine, Texas 2007 Grand Mound, Washington 2008 Concord, North Carolina 2009 Fitchburg, Massachusetts 2014 Garden Grove, California 2016 Colorado Springs, Colorado 2016 Bloomington, Minnesota 2017 LaGrange, Georgia 2018 Gurnee, Illinois 2018 Salt River, Arizona 2019

Previous locations:

• Sheboygan, Wisconsin (2004-2011; now known as Blue Harbor Resort)

Locations under construction:

• Manteca, California – Opening 2021.

Locations under consideration:

• Squamish, British Columbia
• El Paso, Texas
• Perryville, Maryland
• Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey
• Chester, New York
• Pompano Beach, Florida
• Bicester, England
• Collier County, Florida

Other brands

Great Wolf Lodge also owns MagiQuest.

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