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Rumors Fly Regarding Pending Sale of American Skiing Company Resorts
: First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine :: The ski and snowboard world at your keyboard
First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine
The ski and snowboard world at your keyboard
Feb 06, 2007 - 10:08 AM
Rumors Fly Regarding Pending Sale of American Skiing Company Resorts
Killington, VT - The slopes of Vermont's Killington ski and snowboard resort are abuzz this week with rumors regarding a pending sale of most, if not all of American Skiing Company's eastern ski resorts.
An unnamed Vermont ski industry executive indicated to First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine today that due diligence has been completed and that transactions to sell Vermont's Killington and Pico to Powdr Corporation, and Mount Snow in Vermont and New Hampshire's Attitash Resort to Peak Resorts is only a couple of signatures away.
American Skiing Company (ASC) executives, however, refuse to confirm the rumors. "I've heard that one," admitted Dave Hirasawa, investor relations spokesperson at ASC's headquarters in Park City, Utah, but he quickly added, "We don't comment on speculation and rumor." Killington spokesperson Tom Horrocks likewise acknowledged hearing the rumors regarding the Killington/Pico sale but refused to comment further. He denied previously hearing the rumors regarding a Peak Resorts acquisition of Mount Snow and Attitash. Neither representatives of Powdr Corporation nor Peak Resorts could be reached for comment.
Park City, Utah-based Powdr Corporation owns a number of western U.S. ski and snowboard resorts, including: Park City Mountain Resort and the Gorgoza Park snow tubing center in Utah; California's Alpine Meadows, Boreal and Soda Springs; Oregon's Mt. Bachelor; and Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort in Nevada. If completed, this rumored transaction would provide the company with its first eastern ski and snowboard resorts. Peak Resorts is a consortium of midwestern ski resorts that several years ago resurrected New Hampshire's Crotched Mountain ski area from a decade of dormancy.
American Skiing Company has been saddled with debt since a dramatic expansion spree that took place under the helm of its former CEO, Leslie Otten. Subsequent financial difficulties led to its delisting from the New York Stock Exchange due to inadequate capitalization, among other financial pitfalls. Its senior credit line has been renegotiated on multiple occasions, and the company brought in Oak Hill Capital as an investor to shore up its financial resources. Buzz amongst members of New York City's entertainment industry is that Oak Hill is considering selling its ski resort assets to fund the purchase of several television stations, although that, too, remains unconfirmed.
No information could be obtained regarding the status of American Skiing Company's other holdings, including Sugarloaf/USA and Sunday River in Maine, and The Canyons in Utah. In December, ASC announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation in Colorado to Steamboat Acquisition Corporation, an affiliate of Intrawest ULC, for $265 million. ASC in July 2005 completed the sale of southern Vermont's Haystack Ski Resort to a group of local businesspeople with plans to turn the ski area into an exclusive private resort community.
: First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine :: The ski and snowboard world at your keyboard
First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine
The ski and snowboard world at your keyboard
Feb 06, 2007 - 10:08 AM
Rumors Fly Regarding Pending Sale of American Skiing Company Resorts
Killington, VT - The slopes of Vermont's Killington ski and snowboard resort are abuzz this week with rumors regarding a pending sale of most, if not all of American Skiing Company's eastern ski resorts.
An unnamed Vermont ski industry executive indicated to First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine today that due diligence has been completed and that transactions to sell Vermont's Killington and Pico to Powdr Corporation, and Mount Snow in Vermont and New Hampshire's Attitash Resort to Peak Resorts is only a couple of signatures away.
American Skiing Company (ASC) executives, however, refuse to confirm the rumors. "I've heard that one," admitted Dave Hirasawa, investor relations spokesperson at ASC's headquarters in Park City, Utah, but he quickly added, "We don't comment on speculation and rumor." Killington spokesperson Tom Horrocks likewise acknowledged hearing the rumors regarding the Killington/Pico sale but refused to comment further. He denied previously hearing the rumors regarding a Peak Resorts acquisition of Mount Snow and Attitash. Neither representatives of Powdr Corporation nor Peak Resorts could be reached for comment.
Park City, Utah-based Powdr Corporation owns a number of western U.S. ski and snowboard resorts, including: Park City Mountain Resort and the Gorgoza Park snow tubing center in Utah; California's Alpine Meadows, Boreal and Soda Springs; Oregon's Mt. Bachelor; and Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort in Nevada. If completed, this rumored transaction would provide the company with its first eastern ski and snowboard resorts. Peak Resorts is a consortium of midwestern ski resorts that several years ago resurrected New Hampshire's Crotched Mountain ski area from a decade of dormancy.
American Skiing Company has been saddled with debt since a dramatic expansion spree that took place under the helm of its former CEO, Leslie Otten. Subsequent financial difficulties led to its delisting from the New York Stock Exchange due to inadequate capitalization, among other financial pitfalls. Its senior credit line has been renegotiated on multiple occasions, and the company brought in Oak Hill Capital as an investor to shore up its financial resources. Buzz amongst members of New York City's entertainment industry is that Oak Hill is considering selling its ski resort assets to fund the purchase of several television stations, although that, too, remains unconfirmed.
No information could be obtained regarding the status of American Skiing Company's other holdings, including Sugarloaf/USA and Sunday River in Maine, and The Canyons in Utah. In December, ASC announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation in Colorado to Steamboat Acquisition Corporation, an affiliate of Intrawest ULC, for $265 million. ASC in July 2005 completed the sale of southern Vermont's Haystack Ski Resort to a group of local businesspeople with plans to turn the ski area into an exclusive private resort community.