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According to various reports on the internet, here is one example, Whistler Blackcomb is possibly going to auction on February 19th – right in the middle of the Olympics. Intrawest, the parent company of Whistler Blackcomb is in financial trouble after missing a loan repayment of $524 million back in December (after receiving an extension for that payment).
I am no expert on such matters, but in simple terms, it appears Intrawest owes some people a LOT of money, and they are tired of waiting for it. If they don’t get the money soon, they will force a sale to try and recover what ever they can. I am not sure how much of this is to do with Fortress (parent company of Intrawest) owing money rather than Intrawest itself, but in the end the result will be the same. Unless of course, Fortress/Intrawest can come up with the money.
What I am really interested in, is this – Will Whistler Blackcomb be sold separately?, or will it remain packaged up with the other resorts of Intrawest. It is my understanding that WB is a profitable venture, and has been carry the weight of the other loss-making resorts.
If WB can become a separate operation, that could use it’s profits to better itself, wouldn’t we end up with a better resort?
Obviously the problem with this – is that what kind of person/group can afford to buy WB as a single entity – it will most likely be bought by some other conglomerate who wants to use its profits to offset their other losses. So we will be jumping out of the frying pan and into the lions mouth.
Time will tell.
Upated: The Globe and Mail is reporting on the 29th of January that Intrawest has managed to sell the Panorama ski resort.
Update: The firesale continues, apparently Intrawest has just sold their interest in something called ‘The Village’, a commercial and residential operation based in Squaw Valley USA. Link.
February 18th Update: It looks like Intrawest and Fortress have managed to delay proceedings by a week. Link
WB is far from profitable enough to carry the other resorts. When you factor in the cost of Peak2Peak and the debt of real estate development, WB is loosing money hand over fist.
Ski areas are nearly impossible to run profitably on their own. The profits come from real estate which has been in the tank for a while now.
People should realize that after the Games, real-estate values in the W/B will drop like a stone. Timing couldn’t be worse if you are a Seller…there will be good Buys to be had if you have the Cash to play. Intrawest is basically bankrupt, if the resort sells it will be at a heavy discount – Intrawest will be bent over Large. The End is Near.
It’s interesting to read this article, and the many letters associated with it.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/01/20/intrawest-whistler-olympics.html
I don’t have enough personal knowledge to say if WB is financially viable, ‘on it’s own’, despite being the flagship resort and I wonder how well Intrawest have compartmentalized their business, for example do the ski shops, restaurants etc in Whistler that are ‘owned’ by Intrawest fall into the WB pot, or are they aseparate, presumably profit making enterprise?
Without property to develop and sell, it is hard to see any ski resort operation being viable just on lift sales alone. Revelstoke’s current situation comes to mind.
Interesting times indeed.
Sorry about my late reply -
I think the official version would have the ski operations as a separate business unit within Intrawest than say retail sales – thus it is hard to define who makes money and who doesn’t (when comparing resorts)
However, I think, if you combine all of Intrawests assets located within Whistler into a single business unit – it would be profitable.
WB has a LOT (maybe the most) skier visits each year, and if WB can’t run at a profit – than what ski resort can?
In the end, WB will continue to operate regardless of what happens in the courts, the only question in my mind is whether it will be allowed to prosper from it’s revenue, or it will it continue to feed them into a bigger pool.
IF for some reason it doesn’t continue to operate, then you will find me at the nearest Skidoo retailer buying my new ‘lift’ to access Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.
everyone pitch ten dollars and send it to me then i’ll buy it and you can all use it