• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Killington Officially sold

K2Trav

New member
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
Messages
105
Points
0
Location
Sugarloaf/USA
Website
www.k2trav.com
News and information

P.O. Box 4552 Park City, UT 84060
Phone: 435-615-0340 Fax: 435-615-4780
e-mail: investinfo@ascresorts.com


Date: February 20, 2007 Contact:
David Hirasawa
Release: IMMEDIATE American Skiing Company
Investor and Media Communications
435-615-0396

American Skiing Company Announces Sale of Killington and
Pico Resorts For $83.5 Million
PARK CITY, UTAH — February 20, 2007 — American Skiing Company (OTCBB: AESK) announced today that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Killington and Pico resorts in Vermont to SP Land Company, LLC, a major area landowner, for $83.5 million. The announced sale follows the recent announcement of the sale of Mount Snow and Attitash resorts for $73.5 million and the December announcement of the planned $265 million sale of Steamboat resort.
“Killington has been in partnership with SP Land since 2004 on a number of developable real estate parcels in the Killington area. During the design and planning phase of the Killington Village, it became apparent that the developable real estate and resort operations should be controlled by a single owner. We believe this transaction is a tremendous step forward for the future development of Killington, Pico and the surrounding community,” said ASC President and CEO B.J. Fair.
SP Land Company, LLC is a real estate holding company with significant land holdings near Killington resort. SP Land Company, LLC first gained its real estate holdings in the area in conjunction with American Skiing Company’s restructuring of its real estate related debt in 2004.
“With the recently announced sales of Steamboat, Mount Snow, Attitash and now Killington and Pico, American Skiing Company is clearly in transition. We will be reviewing our organizational needs and adjusting accordingly. As a result of these transactions, the Company expects to repay all bank debt, junior subordinated debt, and have substantial resources to address the needs of our Sunday River and Sugarloaf resorts in Maine and The Canyons in Utah,” added Fair.
Included in the sale of Killington and Pico are the resorts and all resort-owned operations, all of Killington/Pico’s resort-owned real estate assets and The Wobbly Barn restaurant. In addition to the cash purchase price of $83.5 million, the buyer will also assume approximately $5 million of debt and other liabilities and certain contractual obligations of ASC.
The proposed sales of the ASC resorts will not have an effect on any current season passes, vouchers or advance purchase ticket products for the remainder of the 2006-2007 winter season. Multi-resort products such as All-For-One and Ski America passes will continue to be valid at all




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




ASC resorts where they previously have been honored through the end of the 2006-2007 winter season. Gift cards, Value Cards and Edge cards will continue to be valid in accordance with the terms of those specific programs.
As a condition of the purchase and sale agreement, stockholder approval is required for the sale of Killington and Pico resorts. The sole holder of the Company’s Preferred Stock Series C-1, representing 65.8% of the voting shares entitled to vote on the matter, has voted in favor of the transaction, which constitutes majority stockholder approval. Such approval means the transaction may be approved without a meeting of the Company’s stockholders. In addition to stockholder approval, the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust approval and consent of the State of Vermont. The transaction is expected to close on or before April 30, 2007.
All of ASC’s New England resorts, including Killington and Pico, have received almost three feet of natural snowfall in the past week; these resorts are enjoying the best skiing and riding conditions of the season.
About Killington and Pico
Killington/Pico was the nation’s tenth most visited resort and the most visited resort in the eastern U.S. in 2006, with nearly 800,000 skier visits. Killington and Pico’s expansive terrain, its 3,050 foot vertical drop and extensive snowmaking and grooming coverage have made the resort a perennial favorite of skiers and riders in the northeastern U.S. Golf, summer attractions and fall foliage complement the year round recreation offerings of the resort.
About American Skiing Company
Headquartered in Park City, Utah, American Skiing Company is one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. Its resorts include Killington, Pico and Mount Snow in Vermont; Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine; Attitash in New Hampshire; Steamboat in Colorado; and The Canyons in Utah. More information is available on the company’s web site, www.peaks.com.
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals are or may be forward-looking statements. We have tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using words such as “anticipate”, “assume”, “believe”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, and words and terms of similar substance in connection with any discussion of operating or financial performance. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In addition to factors discussed above, other factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following: the failure to satisfy any of the conditions to closing of the purchase agreements relating to Steamboat, Mount Snow/Attitash and Killington/Pico or the buyer’s refusal to close for
 

ctenidae

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
8,959
Points
38
Location
SW Connecticut
Retrenching and concentrating on the West, I guess. It'll be interesting to see how this affects NE skiing, with the All4One in two different hands now.
 

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
33,292
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
:eek: :eek:

I am surprised as to who the new owner is....but as someone has pointed out in KZone, there is a ? as to who is going to run the resort. I am interested to see what this means for operations and for pass prices.

I'm now worried about the impact of the deal. Breaking up this group, now four resorts spun out in a week, will have big impact on prices. No more A41. That is good for smaller mountains who could not compete, but now the Okemos and Stowes don't have this stiff price competition. I hope that prices don't inflate too much...
 

Greg

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 1, 2001
Messages
31,154
Points
0
What/who is "SP Land Company, LLC" and are they associated with Powdr Corporation at all? That was the initial rumor.
 

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
33,292
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
SP Land, from what I hear, is the group that has been working with ASC at Killington to develop the village.

“Killington has been in partnership with SP Land since 2004 on a number of developable real estate parcels in the Killington area. During the design and planning phase of the Killington Village, it became apparent that the developable real estate and resort operations should be controlled by a single owner. We believe this transaction is a tremendous step forward for the future development of Killington, Pico and the surrounding community,” said ASC President and CEO B.J. Fair.
SP Land Company, LLC is a real estate holding company with significant land holdings near Killington resort. SP Land Company, LLC first gained its real estate holdings in the area in conjunction with American Skiing Company’s restructuring of its real estate related debt in 2004.

The answer is clear as to who owns the land, but who will spin the lifts looks to be another question....
 

andyzee

New member
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
10,884
Points
0
Location
Home
Website
www.nsmountainsports.com
As I've been saying all along, be careful what you wish for. My believe is that now Killington will turn into another Stratton. Condos, hotels, ski village, etc.... Damn, could save myself time driving up to K and just stop at Stratton. :(
 

noski

New member
Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Messages
863
Points
0
Location
mad river valley
As I've been saying all along, be careful what you wish for. My believe is that now Killington will turn into another Stratton. Condos, hotels, ski village, etc.... Damn, could save myself time driving up to K and just stop at Stratton. :(

...or simply drive another hour north for the real thing.
 

andyzee

New member
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
10,884
Points
0
Location
Home
Website
www.nsmountainsports.com
...or simply drive another hour north for the real thing.

I was just being sarcastic, driving further north is the more likely scenerio. Guess I'll just have to wait and see what actually happens. Figure K may still be worthwhile for the first year of new ownership, after that, definetly have to start looking.
 

ctenidae

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
8,959
Points
38
Location
SW Connecticut
Do you think they will now make more improvements at SR and the loaf with the extra cash in hand?

The cash from both deals doesn't do much for settling the debt ASC is carrying, though as I recall SP Land carried a pretty big note, which presumably is now going away.
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,455
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
Do you think they will now make more improvements at SR and the loaf with the extra cash in hand?


Using some fuzzy corporate math here. ASC's initial starting Debt this year was in the 550 million range, now once the deals go through take away 250 millionish for Steamboat, another 75 millionish for Mt Snow/Attitash and 85 millionish for K/Pico and you've still got 150ish million in debt.

This though was also in one of the release's this AM, and the mentioned Fair is B.J. Fair the head honcho at ASC.

"As a result of these transactions, the Company expects to repay all bank debt, junior subordinated debt, and have substantial resources to address the needs of our Sunday River and Sugarloaf resorts in Maine and The Canyons in Utah,” added Fair.
 

millerm277

Active member
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
1,812
Points
38
Location
NJ/NH
The answer is clear as to who owns the land, but who will spin the lifts looks to be another question....

Maybe ASC will still have some sort of contract with SP Land for running everything?


ASC doesn't do a terrible job with running the resort, they are just lacking in cash to actually make any improvements.
 

ctenidae

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
8,959
Points
38
Location
SW Connecticut
Some debt is good. Too much is bad. Both for a lot of reasons.

Both sales hit a total of $7M in assumed debt, which isn't much. Together, thoguh, they're retiring about $305M in debt. Unfortunately, they're also losing assets along with it, so their debt/asset ratios probably won't change much.
 

ski_resort_observer

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2004
Messages
3,423
Points
38
Location
Waitsfield,Vt
Website
www.firstlightphotographics.com
What/who is "SP Land Company, LLC" and are they associated with Powdr Corporation at all? That was the initial rumor.

SP(Shafer Property) Land Company is a large independent commercial real estate developer based in Dallas. In 2004 they purchased the base developement rights at kmart from ASC/Oak Hill. In 2005 Centrex(who recently bought Loon) purchased developement rights from SP Land for 213 of the 476 acres. They(Centrex) recently backed out of the deal. As far as any prior relationship between Powdr and SP Land I have found nothing. Since they have been partnered with ASC/Oak Hill for the past 3 years at kmart I doubt they could ride the fence and have partnerships with both.

Powdr Corp will run the mountain, SP Land will do the real estate. I didn't know much about Powdr until a couple of months and they appear to run a lean, mean profit producing machine.

The next couple of years regarding NE ski resorts is going to be very interesting. Does this have any effect on the Bush? Will most of those A41 skiers go back to smaller hills?
 

Marc

New member
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
7,526
Points
0
Location
Dudley, MA
Website
www.marcpmc.com
SP(Shafer Property) Land Company is a large independent commercial real estate developer based in Dallas. In 2004 they purchased the base developement rights at kmart from ASC/Oak Hill. In 2005 Centrex(who recently bought Loon) purchased developement rights from SP Land for 213 of the 476 acres. They(Centrex) recently backed out of the deal. As far as any prior relationship between Powdr and SP Land I have found nothing. Since they have been partnered with ASC/Oak Hill for the past 3 years at kmart I doubt they could ride the fence and have partnerships with both.

Powdr Corp will run the mountain, SP Land will do the real estate. I didn't know much about Powdr until a couple of months and they appear to run a lean, mean profit producing machine.

The next couple of years regarding NE ski resorts is going to be very interesting. Does this have any effect on the Bush? Will most of those A41 skiers go back to smaller hills?


This A4crap skier is taking to the liftless summits.
 

aveski2000

Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2006
Messages
210
Points
16
Location
Auburn ME
It will be interesting to see if they really hang on to Sunday River and the Loaf. It doesn’t seem they would sell SR without a package deal with Sugarloaf. Hopefully if they hang on to them, season tickets will continue to be somewhat affordable. If not, I will get another Ski Maine Pass.
 

Skier75

New member
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
565
Points
0
Location
Barrington, New Hampshire
Oh, oh....what will that bring for next year??? Guess its time for us to start skiing NH, since we live here now.....;) Maybe, we'll see what happens now with the passes.
 

Breeze

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
333
Points
18
Location
West Bethel, ME
This is quite interesting, remembering what I was doing 10 years ago this week.

Faxes, faxes, faxes between an Offshore Banking Institution and an off-mountain condo location.


Chickens came home to roost. Loan due at term. BJ Fair's name on the bottom line, Les knew better than to give his name.

Breeze
 

snowmonster

New member
Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
4,066
Points
0
Location
In my mind, northern New England
Note to self: aside from skiing Snow and Attitash this season, ski K and Pico too. Have to make this All4One Pass work overtime before this is all gone. Maybe next year, I'll ski K only on special occasions (or if they have really high day-ticket prices, maybe never -- just like Stowe which I haven't skied because of the cost).

If the River and the Loaf are still on the same pass next year, maybe I'll consider getting one. But, there will sure be a lot of attractive options out there and it's open season on ski passes!
 
Top