CBS announced Monday that it has reached a deal to sell its Paramount Parks theme parks to Ohio-based Cedar Fair for $1.24 billion in cash.

The deal is subject to the approval of regulators and is expected to close sometime during the third quarter.

The proposed sale was announced in separate statements from Sandusky-based Cedar Fair, which operates Cedar Point near Cleveland. It also owns Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles.

CBS had said it wanted to sell the parks back in January because they didn't fit with the company's media holdings.

The five Paramount properties are Canada's Wonderland near Toronto; King's Island near Cincinnati; King's Dominion near Richmond, Va.; Carowinds near Charlotte, N.C.; and Great America in Santa Clara, Calif.

It was not immediately clear whether the parks would keep their current names or would be renamed after the sale. The sale will double Cedar Fair's holdings, according to Cincinnati television station WLWT-TV.

Cedar Fair's last purchase was in 2004 when it bought the Six Flags park in Aurora, Ohio. Since then, Cedar Fair has changed Six Flags Worlds of Adventure into Geauga Lake, WLWT-TV reported.