Cedar Fair, L.P. , is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns and operates six amusement parks, including Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, and Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Cedar Fair trades on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol FUN.
1. Go to Cedar Fair’s Web site, www.cedarfair.com , and access its most recent annual report. Use the annual report to complete the following questions.
2. a. What is a publicly traded limited partnership?
    b. Instead of common stock, what security represents ownership?
    c. What rights do the partnership security owners have? Are they similar to common stockholders?
    d. Do the owners of trading limited partnerships receive dividends? If not, what types of “dividend”-like distributions do they receive?
3. A partnership needs at least one general partner. In the case of Cedar Fair,
    a. Who is (are) the general partner(s)?
    b. What role does the general partner have in running Cedar Fair?
    c. What is this partner’s legal liability for the partnership’s liabilities?
    d. What is the percentage of ownership for the general partner?
    e. How is the general partner compensated by the partnership? Does this seem reasonable given the risk and work performed for the partnership?
4. What is the major reason(s) that Cedar Fair was organized as a partnership instead of as a stock corporation?
5. In reviewing the financial statements of Cedar Fair, how are they different from a traditional stock corporation’s statements?