Colorado ski-industry giant Vail Resorts just got bigger.
The Broomfield, Colo.-based company announced Monday, July 22 that it has entered into a merger agreement to acquire the outstanding stock of Peak Resorts, Inc., which will add 17 U.S. ski areas to its growing roster of properties: Mount Snow in Vermont; Hunter Mountain in New York; Attitash Mountain Resort, Wildcat Mountain and Crotched Mountain in New Hampshire; Liberty Mountain Resort, Roundtop Mountain Resort, Whitetail Resort, Jack Frost and Big Boulder in Pennsylvania; Alpine Valley, Boston Mills, Brandywine and Mad River in Ohio; Hidden Valley and Snow Creek in Missouri; and Paoli Peaks in Indiana.
“We are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to add such a powerful network of ski areas to our Company,” said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts, in a release. “Peak Resorts’ ski areas in the Northeast are a perfect complement to our existing resorts and together will provide a very compelling offering to our guests in New York and Boston. With this acquisition, we are also able to make a much stronger connection to guests in critical cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest and build on the success we have already seen with our strategy in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit.”
The purchase price for all of Peak Resorts’ common stock is estimated at US$264 million. Vail Resorts has also committed to investing approximately $15 million over the next two years in one-time capital spending to “elevate the guest experience at these resorts,” the release states.
The company has also agreed to assume or refinance Peak Resorts’ outstanding debt.
After the deal closes, expected in the fall, Vail Resorts said it plans to retain “the vast majority” of each new resort’s employees.
“Vail Resorts has a proven track record of celebrating the unique identity of its resorts, while continually investing in the guest and employee experience. For this reason, we are confident that our resorts and employees will continue to thrive within the Vail Resorts network,” said Timothy Boyd, president and chief executive officer of Peak Resorts, in the release. “We are very proud of our track record over the last two decades in building the breadth, quality and accessibility of our resorts. We are thrilled that our guests will now have access to some of the world’s most renowned resorts.”
Pending the transaction’s closure, the 17 newly acquired resorts will be included in Vail Resorts’ 2019-2020 Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, and Military Epic Pass, offering unlimited, unrestricted access. Guests will also be able to use the Epic Day Pass at the new resorts.
For more information, visit vailresorts.com.
