Who Owns Great Wolf Lodge?

Great Wolf Lodge is North America’s largest indoor water park chain based in Madison, Wisconsin. The company was founded by Jack and Andrew Waterman in 1997 to offer the perfect, carefree getaway for families to relax and bond.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. operates its family resort chain under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. As of Jan 2024, Great Wolf Lodge had over 20 locations across North America, from Wisconsin to Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Philadelphia, California, Texas, and Ontario, Canada.

Great Wolf is investing in its expansion, with three resorts under construction in Florida, Texas, and Connecticut. The company is targeting the top tourist destinations. In Aug 2023, Great Wolf Lodge South Florida announced its construction would be done by Oct 2024. The new family-focused resort will feature a 90,000-square-foot indoor water park, a 60,000-square-foot adventure park, and 500 family-friendly guest suites. Great Wolf Lodge South Florida plans to market itself to locals and tourists. [1]

Great Wolf Resorts stays ahead of competitors by refreshing and improving its locations. Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains is one of the brand’s flagship resorts. In Oct 2023, the Pocono Mountains resort celebrated its $125 million top-to-bottom transformation.

The renovation project added 202 new suites, 30 three-bedroom villas, seven indoor water park slides, two restaurants, and an outdoor pool and entertainment space. These upgrades elevate the guest experience, increasing the resort’s competitive advantage. [2]

Each Great Wolf Lodge resort features a water park, restaurants, arcades, spas, and children’s activities. They offer fun-filled attractions and family-friendly entertainment under one roof. In Jun 2023, the company opened Great Wolf Lodge Maryland earlier than expected. The Perryville location has the largest indoor water park resort in the Great Wolf Lodge portfolio. It also offers 700 family-friendly suites. But who owns the Great Wolf Lodge? [3]

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Who is Great Wolf’s Parent Company?

Great Wolf Lodge is majority-owned by investment firm Blackstone. Blackstone acquired a 65% controlling interest in Great Wolf Lodge from Centerbridge Partners in 2019. The deal valued the Great Wolf brand at $2.9 billion.

The resort chain is now owned by a joint venture that includes Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX and Centerbridge affiliates. As of Jan 2024, Blackstone managed over $1 trillion in assets. It is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. [4]

Blackstone is an NYSE-listed company focused on private and growth equity, infrastructure, real estate, public debt, life sciences, non-investment grade credit, assets, and secondary funds. The firm creates positive economic impact and long-term value for its investors by relying on flexible capital to invest in high-potential companies and strengthen them.

In Nov 2023, Blackstone agreed to acquire Rover Group, Inc. for $2.3 billion. Rover will leverage Blackstone’s expertise and connections with innovative tech companies to grow its online pet care marketplace. Its growth will deliver value to shareholders of both companies. [5]

Great Wolf Lodge relies on Blackstone’s resources to build strategic partnerships with innovative companies. In Apr 2024, Hilton Grand Vacations and Great Wolf Lodge partnered to expand family travel options for customers of both companies.

The deal offers getaway options to Great Wolf Lodge for HGV members and exposes Great Wolf’s guests to HGV’s vacation offerings. [6]

Blackstone is committed to Great Wolf Lodge’s growth ambitions. Its affiliate, Blackstone Real Estate Asset Management, oversees Great Wolf’s expansion and renovation projects. In Aug 2023, the new Great Wolf Lodge in Webster announced its opening date.

The resort features a 95,000-square-foot indoor water park, 532 family-friendly suites, and a 61,000-square-foot family entertainment area called Great Wolf Adventure Park. Blackstone invested $200 million in the project. [7]

Image Credit: April Walker

Great Wolf’s Ownership History

The Waterman family founded Great Wolf Lodge in 1997, starting with a small indoor water park resort called Black Wolf Lodge. Black Wolf Lodge was in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. The Watermans doubled the size of the resort’s water park to 40,000 square feet and increased its suites from 117 to 309.

The family sold Black Wolf Lodge in 1999 to The Great Lakes Companies Inc. The new owners changed the resort’s name to Great Wolf Lodge in 2000 and opened a second location in Sandusky, Ohio, in 2001. [8]

Great Wolf Lodge expanded across the US after opening its second resort. The brand separated from The Great Lakes Companies and created Great Wolf Resorts Inc., which filed for IPO.

In 2004, Great Wolf Resorts Inc. went public and started trading on NASDAQ as WOLF. The company opened resorts in Niagara Falls, Canada, and Sheboygan, Wisconsin. However, Great Wolf faced financial challenges as a publicly traded company.

In Mar 2012, Apollo acquired Great Wolf Resorts for $703 million. It became a private company after the acquisition. [9]

Great Wolf Lodge opened a single new resort under Apollo Global Management. Apollo sold the company to Centerbridge Partners in Mar 2015 for $1.35 billion. This acquisition helped Great Wolf Lodge expand, with several new locations on the US west coast.

In Sep 2019, Blackstone acquired a 65% controlling interest in Great Wolf Lodge from Centerbridge. The joint venture deal valued the company at $2.9 billion. Great Wolf Lodge thrived under Blackstone. In Feb 2024, Great Wolf arranged a $1 billion partial refinancing of 14 resorts. [10]

Image Credit: Kyle Nieber

Great Wolf Lodge’s Shareholder Structure

Great Wolf Lodge is majority-owned by Blackstone, with Centerbridge as a minority owner. Blackstone owns a 65% stake in the resort chain, and Centerbridge holds 35%. The joint venture deal valued Great Wolf Lodge at $2.9 billion in 2019. Great Wolf’s majority owner, Blackstone, is a public company trading on the NYSE under the BX symbol.

As of Dec 2023, Blackstone had 1 Stock A share, 714,645,995 Stock B shares with one vote, and 1 Stock C share. Its Stock B includes 706,934,762 free-float shares held by institutions and the general public. [11]

Steve Schwarzman is Blackstone Group CEO and co-founder. He is Blackstone’s top insider shareholder. In 2023, Schwarzman received $896.7 million in pay and dividends. This amount includes $777 million dividend payouts for his Blackstone shares.

The co-founder and CEO earned over $1 billion in share dividends in 2022. In Apr 2024, President Jonathan Gray was Blackstone’s second-largest insider shareholder with 3,081,120 shares, followed by Director Joseph Baratta at 1,037,630 shares, CFO Michael Chae at 840,079, Officer Vikrant Sawhney at 740,867, and Officer John Finley at 511,909. [12]

Blackstone’s shareholder structure has 2,255 institutions. As of Dec 2023, Vanguard Group was Blackstone’s largest institutional shareholder, with 8.99%. Vanguard owns 64 million Blackstone shares. Blackrock Inc. is the second-largest institutional shareholder with 6.52%, followed by Capital World at 5.08%, State Street Corp at 4%, Morgan Stanley at 3.59%, Capital International at 2.3%, and Charles Schwab at 2.08%. [13]

Centerbridge Partners is a leading multi-strategy private investment firm owned by its founders and stakeholders. The company owns 35% of Great Wolf Lodge and manages $35 billion in assets: $18 billion in private equity, $15 billion in private credit holdings, and $3 billion in real estate.

In Sep 2023, co-founder Jeff Aronson announced that he would return his ownership stake in Centerbridge to the firm upon retirement. He follows the footsteps of co-founder Mark Gallogly, who retired in 2020. This strategy ensures continuity via generational transfer of the company. [14]