This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Mammoth Resorts will be sold to a Colorado partnership by fall, reports the L.A. Times. The pending buyer is a business team comprised of Colorado-based Aspen Skiing Co., and KSL Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Denver. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It's very possible that, during the especially wintry season we just experienced (check out the gallery above), you'd gotten acquainted with some of Mammoth Resort's offerings. The company operates Mammoth Mountain, Bear Mountain, Snow Summit, and June Mountain.
According to The Denver Post, the acquisition will give Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL Capital Partners more than 6,000 acres of Southern California ski terrain. The Post also notes that the four resorts, put together, get more than two million visits a year.
In a press release, Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group (which bought a controlling interest in Mammoth Resorts in 2005), noted that Mammoth Resorts had been expanding since 2014, when Snow Summit and Bear Mountain were both added to the company's roster. But, Sternlicht added, certain factors had precluded the owners from accomplishing all that they'd envisioned. “We had greater plans for Mammoth but the Great Recession and then some less favorable weather, interfered with our strategic aspirations in a finite life investment vehicle. We know Aspen and KSL have the experience, commitment, and balance sheet to help make our vision a reality,” said Sternlicht.
The Colorado-based business partners have been supremely busy, recently. In fact, it was only on Monday that Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL Capital Partners announced a $1.5 billion deal to take over Intrawest Resorts Holdings, a Denver-based company that operates six ski areas, reports the Post.
As noted at the Times, the deals are part of a larger trend in which ski resorts have been lumped in bulk. Out in Lake Tahoe, Vail Resorts Inc., operator of Heavenly Mountain Resort, purchased the Northstar-at-Tahoe resort in 2010. Also, Squaw Valley USA and Alpine Meadows, the two largest ski resorts at Lake Tahoe, consolidated operations in 2011.
The price of the pending Mammoth Resorts purchase was not released. Though it's worth noting that Connecticut-based Starwood Capital Group bought a controlling interest in Mammoth Resorts in 2005 for $365 million. Though, at that time, Mammoth Resorts only operated Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain.
