Stockholders' (Deficit) Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Equity [Abstract]

Stockholders' (Deficit) Equity

20.  STOCKHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY

As of December 31, 2021, 95,541,992 shares of common stock were issued in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet, which includes 19,953,042 shares of treasury stock held by the Company (see Share Repurchase Program discussion which follows), but excludes 50,862 unvested shares of common stock and 1,988,416 unvested restricted stock units held by certain participants in the Company’s equity compensation plans (see Note 19–Equity-Based Compensation). 

Share Repurchase Program

The Board had previously authorized the repurchase of up to $250.0 million of the Company’s common stock (the “Share Repurchase Program”). Under the Share Repurchase Program, the Company is authorized to repurchase shares through open market purchases, privately-negotiated transactions or otherwise in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, including through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans and under Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company repurchased 3,692,794 shares for an aggregate total of approximately $215.7 million leaving approximately $21.8 million available under the Share Repurchase Program as of December 31, 2021. During the year ended December 31, 2020, prior to the COVID-19 temporary park closures, the Company repurchased 469,785 shares for an aggregate total of approximately $12.4 million. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company repurchased 5,615,874 shares (see discussion relating to the SEAS Repurchase in Note 17–Related Party Transactions for further details).

The Share Repurchase Program has no time limit and may be suspended or discontinued completely at any time. The number of shares to be purchased and the timing of purchases will be based on the Company’s trading windows and available liquidity, general business

and market conditions, and other factors, including legal requirements, debt covenant restrictions and alternative investment opportunities.  

All shares repurchased pursuant to the Share Repurchase Program, the SEAS Repurchase and shares repurchased directly from selling stockholders concurrently with previous secondary offerings, are recorded as treasury stock at a total cost of $631.1 million and $415.3 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and are reflected as a reduction to stockholders’ (deficit) equity in the accompanying consolidated statements of changes in stockholders’ (deficit) equity.