Intrawest has been sold to a private investment group.
Lets hope they dont screw up a good thing!
Lets hope they dont screw up a good thing!
Compared to what? Maybe at Whistler, but all the other mountains owned by these guys might be shut down for MTB. It's an investment group, who will only look at the bottom line. If MTB is not profitable, it could be cut to please the shareholders. I'm not saying it will happen, but it is possible.Bicyclist said:Uh oh. At least MTB generates a lot of revenue so they probably won't mess with it (I hope).
Anyone know if they are listed on the American Stock Exhange? If so, what is their Symbol?particle bored said:Fortress Investment Group LLC is the buyer. Fortress has a web page which states its approach to managing its investments:
http://www.fortressinv.com/site_content.aspx?s=8
From the web page description it's not clear whether they would likely make significant changes in Intrawest's current business holdings.
so when you've had enough and say, "screw you guys. i'm goin home."CBJ said:Man sweet I finally got to buy Intrawest - Whistler is mine minE miNE mINE MINE.
Just like when Cartman bought his own amusement park I will ride Whistler by my self. No more lift lines.
Besides the obvious MJ jokes, Fortress is not an outdoor company, but strictly financial services.Fortress manages $23 billion in assets, including real estate, hedge funds and distressed debt. The firm once held $270 million in loans to pop singer Michael Jackson that was secured in part by his 50 percent stake of the Beatles song catalog. Lilly Donohue, a managing director at Fortress, declined to comment.
it sucks that all of this is so out of our control.sanjuro said:Besides the obvious MJ jokes, Fortress is not an outdoor company, but strictly financial services.
I think the best one can hope for is no changes. The worst is some type of asset sell-off which could leave Whistler with no money and services...
Were unpprofitable mountains kept open before? I doubt Whistler was ever run as a charity for MTb'ersMunster said:Compared to what? Maybe at Whistler, but all the other mountains owned by these guys might be shut down for MTB. It's an investment group, who will only look at the bottom line. If MTB is not profitable, it could be cut to please the shareholders. I'm not saying it will happen, but it is possible.
Intrawest owns (or owned i guess):
Blue Mountain, ON
CMH Heli-Ski/Hike, BC
Copper, CO
Mammoth, CA
Mountain Creek, NJ
Panorama Mountain Village, BC
Snowshoe Mountain, WV
Stratton, VT
The Village at Squaw Valley, CA
Tremblant, QC
Whistler Blackcomb, BC
Winter Park, CO
Transcend said:Tremblant was sold months ago BTW.
Also, it's a holding company selling to another holdings company. I doubt much will change.
Probably not, but I would speculate that smaller hills run at break-even. Whistler isn't the only place out there, and no doubt MTB is safe there. Just e-spuculation, but a new owner may want to put off-season resources/manpower into upgrading /expanding for ski season, rather than running a lift for MTBers.gemini2k said:Were unpprofitable mountains kept open before? I doubt Whistler was ever run as a charity for MTb'ers
Fortress is a private equity investor, but there MO over the last several years is not one of slash and burn liquidations. They are also a higher risk investor as this purchase indicates. Of course they will seek to maximize profits - do you think that intrawest was in the game not too??? Seems to me that the trend intrawest came up with was to attract more people to the mountain in the off-season and I think Snowshoe and certainly Whistler have shown that there "formula" with regard to biking works for this. I would expect Intrawest management to stay on and things to continue as ususal for now. What is scary is that Fortress will build this Asset to sell it for a lot more then they bought it for. As a whole that is fine, it's when they start selling mountains individually that we need to worry. As a stand alone investment of a single mountain I think it's far more realistic that MTB gets shut down as profits may look minimal and management sees more risk vs. reward. Until then I believe fortress will keep the status que and pay down corporate debt Intrawest has accumulated all while thier assets increase in value.Msisle Dad said:Cant agree, they are a private equity (hedge fund) manager. They will seek to maximize the return on investment. That is not to say that MTB would remain in their business plan.
Not arguing or doubting, but do you have anything to back that up?davep said:For the last two years, whistler (mountain and village) have been buiser and done more biz in the summer than winter. The two busiest days at the mountain have been the two prior Crankworks events.
trailhacker said:Not arguing or doubting, but do you have anything to back that up?
Its been a while since I was there in the winter but I haven't been up there a day in the summer that was anything close to a day in the winter?
jbogner said:C'mon guys. This trend of private equity companies buying out publicly traded companies is nothing new- it's the latest rage in upper management, and in some ways is a flashback to the leveraged buyout rage back in the 80's.
LOL. Do the Safety Dance!jonKranked said:my only regret.... is... having bone-itis!
ACK!
Munster said:LOL. Do the Safety Dance!
You're out of your mind.davep said:. For the last two years, whistler (mountain and village) have been buiser and done more biz in the summer than winter. .
kidwoo said:You're out of your mind.
I am have no numbers, if you just think about the age range (3-80) and how many families ski/snowboard vs the tiny segment of the biking population who DH, it is pretty obvious what makes more money....kidwoo said:You're out of your mind.
jonKranked said:i find it hard to believe too, but i'm sure its starting to become a close rival in terms of revenue generator. whistler is the primier bike park in the world, and they have the worlds best slopestyle event (arguably). this year the duration of the festival was doubled to 8 days. gotta be doin' something right for things like that to happen.
sanjuro said:I heard one good winter day at Mammoth makes as much as the entire bike season.
Of course, I think money is to be made in the summer, and I could argue that Whistler, the ski mountain, is less famous the Whistler, the mountain bike park; and the prestige from DH carries over to the winter.
I would hope that is worth maintaining mountain biking there....
jbogner said:I believe biking has provided the largest -single day- for Whistler, but the revenue from the biking season overall does not come close to the revenue from the winter season... I remember reading that as well...
I did a double-take at first, but I think they explained it as the largest single-day "profit," since winter operations might be larger in revenue terms, but their operating expenses are far larger as well...
whistler had a *bad* winter in '05, and who knows, maybe the mtb income was higher... would be nice.Resorts in British Columbia experienced the most challenging weather in 40 years, with heavy rainfall in mid-January followed by warm, dry conditions through mid-March. As a result, skier visits declined 16% at Whistler Blackcomb and 10% at Panorama. To compensate for sub-standard conditions, Intrawest discounted the prices of many products, which led to flat revenue per visit at Whistler Blackcomb and a 14% decline at Panorama.