American Skiing Acknowledges Potential Sale of Maine Ski Resorts

[hudson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hudson]

Park City, UT - American Skiing Company (ASC) today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the company to conduct a strategic review of options for its Sunday River and Sugarloaf resorts, both in Maine, including the potential sale of the resorts.

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

Hmm...any indication of what the problem is??
Connie (formerly a Mainer, now living where there is no snow to shovel...)

[hudson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hudson]

By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 03/05/2007 11:25:44 PM MST

Although their value has slipped some the last few days, shares of American Skiing Co. rose significantly in price when the Park City-based company started shedding resorts.
Company stock hit a low of 8 cents a share four years ago this week, then crept back up into the teens where it resided for a long time before slowly but gradually rising into the low 30s.
But after American Skiing announced plans in mid-February to sell three resorts in Vermont - Killington, Pico and Mount Snow - and Attitash in New Hampshire for $157 million, company shares skyrocketed to $1.10 a share on Feb. 23.
They have slid back a few cents every day since then, even after Thursday's announcement that American Skiing had completed the sale of Steamboat resort in Colorado for $265 million - and used the proceeds to pay off $209.2 million in debts.
Still, Monday's closing price of 62 cents a share on the Over The Counter Bulletin Board exchange was almost twice the stock's value for much of the past year.
The sale of Steamboat to Intrawest Holdings and Steamboat Acquisition provided American Skiing with an important injection of cash - $239.1 million, once adjustments were made to account for some debts assumed by the buyers.
With that cash, American Skiing paid off Credit Suisse, GE Capital "and certain other lenders." It also retired a
$120 million in construction loans from Textron Financial related to its hotel and real estate subsidiary, Grand Summit Resort Properties, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
American Skiing still has The Canyons Resort outside of Park City and two resorts in Maine, Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA.
There is speculation in Northeastern ski circles, however, that company founder Les Otten, who resigned from American Skiing's board on Feb. 26, may be trying to purchase the Maine resorts.