Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which owns Knott’s Berry Farm, recently hired Merrill Lynch & Co. to help it sell four parks it owns in the United States and Canada and other assets.

While one of the parks—Great America in the Bay Area—is in California, Cedar Fair officials confirmed Knott’s is not one of the parks on the block. Cedar Fair has owned Knott’s since 1997.

The Sandusky, Ohio-based company operates 11 amusement parks, seven water parks and five hotels. Cedar Fair is saddled with debt from its 2006 purchase of Paramount Parks for $1.24 billion, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier, and the sale is to help lighten the load.

“Exploring the sale of certain assets is a proactive step toward strengthening our financial position over the long term,” Cedar Fair Chief Executive Officer Dick Kinzel said in a statement.

The four parks up for grabs are parks it picked up from Paramount. They include: Great America in Santa Clara; Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo.; Valleyfair near Minneapolis; and the shuttered Geauga Lake amusement park near Cleveland.

Source: ‘Knott’ for sale - Around Disney - OCRegister.com