Whistler Blackcomb could be up for auction
Geoffrey Blain
Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: Business
As part of a situation very telling of the current time, the owner of one of the premier facilities to be used for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games is piled in debt and threatening to put theWhistler Blackcomb resort up for sale.
Intrawest ULC has effectively lost control of the ski resort to its creditors, which include the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers, which it owes a combined US $1.4 billion.
In order to improve its balance sheet, Intrawest has sold three resorts over the past four months. Intrawest, who is also the owner of the famed ski resort Mont Tremblant north of Montreal, QC and Blue Mountain in Collingwood, ON, has sold Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, Panorama Mountain Village ski resort and the host of the 1960 Winter Olympics, The Village at Squaw Valley at Lake Tahoe in California.
Intrawest has publicly stated that it does not have plans to sell Mont Tremblant or Blue Mountain - which it classifies as its core assets - and is looking to grow those existing operations.
The New York Post reported Monday that Fortress Investments LLC, a Wall Street hedge fund and parent company of Intrawest, has asked the Canadian government to pay it US $90 million before the Olympics begin or it will take legal action. The report did not name any sources.
The Canadian government has denied that negotiations are underway or that any contract exists. A spokeswoman for Heritage Minister James Moore told reporters that the Canadian government has not been approached for a payment.
Intrawest CEO Bill Jensen said in a statement that the company, "has a 2002 agreement with [The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC)] to host the Winter Olympics at Whistler Blackcomb and have every confidence that VANOC will honour its financial commitments. Intrawest is looking forward to a successful Olympic Games."
VANOC responded by saying that the agreement, "addresses the financial impact on Whistler Blackcomb as a result of staging the Games", and that "this will only be finally determined well after the Games are over".
Fortress recently missed a $524 million debt payment relating to the $2.75 billion the company spent, most of it borrowed money, when it bought Intrawest in 2006.
Fortress' creditors have planned an auction of Intrawest assets for Feb. 19, which falls in the middle of the Olympic Games. If the auction does occur, it is not expected that it will have any effect on Whistler Blackcomb or the Olympic events scheduled to take place there.
Vancouver, Whistler and the rest of Canada are set to welcome the world as part of the 21st Winter Olympic Games from Feb. 12-28.
Intrawest ULC has effectively lost control of the ski resort to its creditors, which include the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers, which it owes a combined US $1.4 billion.
In order to improve its balance sheet, Intrawest has sold three resorts over the past four months. Intrawest, who is also the owner of the famed ski resort Mont Tremblant north of Montreal, QC and Blue Mountain in Collingwood, ON, has sold Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, Panorama Mountain Village ski resort and the host of the 1960 Winter Olympics, The Village at Squaw Valley at Lake Tahoe in California.
Intrawest has publicly stated that it does not have plans to sell Mont Tremblant or Blue Mountain - which it classifies as its core assets - and is looking to grow those existing operations.
The New York Post reported Monday that Fortress Investments LLC, a Wall Street hedge fund and parent company of Intrawest, has asked the Canadian government to pay it US $90 million before the Olympics begin or it will take legal action. The report did not name any sources.
The Canadian government has denied that negotiations are underway or that any contract exists. A spokeswoman for Heritage Minister James Moore told reporters that the Canadian government has not been approached for a payment.
Intrawest CEO Bill Jensen said in a statement that the company, "has a 2002 agreement with [The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC)] to host the Winter Olympics at Whistler Blackcomb and have every confidence that VANOC will honour its financial commitments. Intrawest is looking forward to a successful Olympic Games."
VANOC responded by saying that the agreement, "addresses the financial impact on Whistler Blackcomb as a result of staging the Games", and that "this will only be finally determined well after the Games are over".
Fortress recently missed a $524 million debt payment relating to the $2.75 billion the company spent, most of it borrowed money, when it bought Intrawest in 2006.
Fortress' creditors have planned an auction of Intrawest assets for Feb. 19, which falls in the middle of the Olympic Games. If the auction does occur, it is not expected that it will have any effect on Whistler Blackcomb or the Olympic events scheduled to take place there.
Vancouver, Whistler and the rest of Canada are set to welcome the world as part of the 21st Winter Olympic Games from Feb. 12-28.
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