January 21, 2010

A bit of interesting news - Whistler Ski Resort having financial problems

We live near a major ski resort (Mt. Baker). This is the American heart of snowboarding and the family that runs it is very picky about keeping it low key and not following every fashion trend that comes along. The have no commercial sponsorship and are therefore able to keep costs and user fees down to a manageable level. To our North in Canada, we have Whistler/Blackcomb They are the personification of a commercial ski resort with condos and 'villages', commercial sponsorship, etc... They are having financial problems -- from ESPN:
Public notice of foreclosure posted
The Whistler ski resort, home to next month's Olympic downhill, could be auctioned off in the middle of the Games after creditors moved to auction off the assets of Intrawest LLC.

A public notice of foreclosure has been posted in newspapers by the company's lenders, which include Lehman Brothers and Davidson Kempner Capital Management, saying that an auction to sell the assets will be held Feb. 19, right in the midst of the Olympics.

The Intrawest properties also include the Whistler Sliding Centre, which is the site of the bobsled and luge.

Intrawest spokesman Ian Galbraith said no company assets have been seized, and it's business as usual for the Games. Galbraith called the notice of auction in the New York Times and Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper a standard practice by lenders during refinancing discussions.

"No foreclosure has happened," he said. "We're looking forward to the success of the Games."

Intrawest said its parent, Fortress Investment Group, continues to own and control Intrawest and all of its properties, but the group of lenders said they hope for a speedy sale of Intrawest in one transaction.

"Each qualified bidder must be a financial institution or other entity that has the financial wherewithal to purchase the membership interests in immediately available funds on the closing date," the public auction notice said.

Fortress could potentially forestall a sale by coming up with money. Intrawest reportedly missed payments last month that were due on a $1.4 billion loan.
$1.4B is a big gamble when your only asset depends on the weather. The overall climate has been in a big cooling trend since 1984 but with the El Niņo happening, temps are a unseasonably higher in the Pacific Northwest and California is getting the precipitation that we would normally get. Mt. Baker is not having a good season but they are not blowing off payments on a multi-Billion dollar loan either... Posted by DaveH at January 21, 2010 11:05 AM | TrackBack
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