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Huge News out of Steamboat: Aspen Ski Company & KSL investment fund purchase of Intrawest (parent company of Steamboat Ski Area) CLOSED TODAY!
I am following these news closely to try and help you understand what the acquisition of Steamboat Resort will mean for Steamboat real estate values, our community and you!
Read the Aspen News Article here |
In April, 2017, Aspen Skiing Company, along with private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, announced the acquisition of Intrawest (NYSE: SNOW), owner of Steamboat Resort for $1.5 billion from Fortress.
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WHAT'S THE DEAL?
Aspen Skiing Co., in partnership with KSL, paid $1.5B for Fortresses stake in Intrawest. Intrawest stock price has spiked over the last few months with rumors of a deal occurring. This deal is beneficial on many levels:
- While Fortress has been an active owner of Intrawest, there hasn't been the needed focus on real estate development, mountain improvements, global marketing, and other areas (compared to other world-class resorts).
- Aspen Ski Co has been looking for ways to compete with the ever growing empire of Vail Resorts. This gives Aspen (along with KSL and Intrawest) 12 resorts and 6 million annual skier visits compared to Vail's 11 resorts. The expectation is for collaborative skiing privileges at all the Aspen Resorts as well as a season pass option to compete with Vail's Epic Pass. That will turn a lot more eyes on Steamboat!
- This isn't the first time KSL & Aspen have worked together. Along with KSL owned East West Partners, Aspen recently acquired property at the base of Snowmass and is now completing a big re-development project. KSL specializes in the ski industry and also real estate development.
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OTHER PERSPECTIVES
- An employee at Intrawest's Denver office told us, "This is great news! We're all looking forward to finally being able to make some growth investments. This will allow us to actually compete with Vail."
- An owner at a leading Aspen real estate firm who said "We are all thrilled. This may not be good for Aspen real estate right now, however there are so many people who are priced out of the Aspen market, who will now have an introduction to Steamboat. Imagine the people who want to buy a $1-3M second home but can't do that here...will those people go visit Steamboat now?"
- Steve Goldman, Colorado Group Realty said "On the surface this is the perfect match. Time will tell as a new strategic plan is created and implemented. But we would expect significant investments in real estate development, on-mountain improvements, global marketing, and more over the coming years. We ultimately believe this will create increased homeowner value as more people look to visit and buy in Steamboat."
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WHO ARE THE PLAYERS INVOLVED?
- Intrawest - Denver-based, publicly traded company that owns six resorts including Steamboat Resort, Mont Tremblant, Stratton and operates Winter Park.
- Fortress - New York private equity firm with $70B of assets under management that owned Intrawest since 2006. Fortress was recently acquired by Softbank of Japan, one of the world's largest private equity firms with a focus on telecom and technology. Prior to Softbank's purchase of Fortress, there were rumors Fortress was looking to sell Intrawest. Once Softbank officially acquired Fortress, it seemed obvious Intrawest was not like the vast majority of tech companies owned by Softbank.
- KSL Partners - Another private equity company, based in Denver, KSL focuses on investments/companies in the travel and leisure business. They currently own Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows (which may be put under the Intrawest umbrella), East West Partners (a Denver & Vail real estate developer) and many other hotels, resorts, and golf courses. KSL was founded by Eric Resnick (CEO) and firm Chairman Mike Shannon in 2005. Eric Resnick is a past employee of Vail resorts from 1996-2001 in his role as VP Strategic Planning. Since the firm's inception, KSL has raised in excess of $7 billion in equity and debt commitments. In addition to the founding partners, KSL's investment committee members include Coley Brenan, John Ege, Craig Henrich, Peter McDermott, Martin Newburger, Dan Rohan, Bernard Siegel, Steven Siegel, Bryan Traficanti and Richard Weissmann.
- Aspen Ski Co - Owner of the four Aspen area resorts, Aspen Ski Co is owned by the Crown Family, a multi-billionaire family with a long business track record including owning a large stake in General Dynamics, JP Morgan Chase, and minority stakes in the NY Yankees and Chicago Bulls.
Please call me to discuss; I'd love to answer your questions!
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MARTIN DRAGNEV, SFR, GRI
BROKER OWNER
COLORADO GROUP REALTY
970-291-9412
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Colorado Group Realty | 970.870.8800 | info@mybrokers.com | www.mybrokers.com
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