21 days to the Olympics and all is not well

skategoat · January 20, 2010

Intrawest's troubles threaten Olympics: report CBC News

A fight between Wall Street financiers could push the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort into insolvency and threaten the Vancouver Olympics, a U.S. newspaper report suggests.

Back-country skiers descend Blackcomb Mountain. A New York Post report suggests the resort's owners could soon be insolvent, which may threaten the Vancouver Olympics. (Randy Lincks/Associated Press)

According to a story in Wednesday's New York Post, creditors who have loaned $1.4 billion US to the ski resort's owners, Intrawest ULC, are threatening to foreclose on the company and effectively seize control of the resort.

Among numerous ski resorts in Canada and the U.S., Intrawest owns the Whistler Blackcomb resort, which is set to host all the ski events at the Winter Olympic Games next month.

Full text: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/01/20/intrawest-whistler-olympics.html?ref=rss

pebu · January 20, 2010

I find that hard to believe. If they were going to foreclose, I'd imagine they'd wait until after the olympics so they could salvage whatever they could out of it. I mean, how much do the olympics bring in? Unless they're trying to gain leverage for some other shady deals, who knows.

C5 Golfer · January 20, 2010

I find that hard to believe. If they were going to foreclose, I'd imagine they'd wait until after the olympics so they could salvage whatever they could out of it. I mean, how much do the olympics bring in? Unless they're trying to gain leverage for some other shady deals, who knows.

there are not a lot of events at Whistler-- most are in Vancouver area -- Cypress mt has a lot of events.. which I heard on the news is closed to public due to poor snow conditions.

I have noticed a lack of skiers and snowboarders at Whistler/Blackcomb for quite awhile now.. I go up 4 -5 times a year and have had very few days lately where there were lift lines -- nothing like we had 4 years ago.

Erik J · January 20, 2010

Intrawest has been unloading quite a bit of real estate inventory lately.

I have a hard time believing that the Olympics would be in danger.

queequeg · January 20, 2010

there are not a lot of events at Whistler-- most are in Vancouver area -- Cypress mt has a lot of events.. which I heard on the news is closed to public due to poor snow conditions.

This seems to be the case -- a coworker of mine who is originally from BC is going to the olympics, and so far, he has no plans to head to whistler/blackcomb.

Allee · January 20, 2010

"sigh" I need an eye-roll icon.

A foreclosure of that size ain't gonna happen in ten days, or probably not in ten months. If they've only just missed a payment, it's going to take weeks to even get the letters mailed and kick the lawyers awake. The Olympics are in no danger.

I'm personally looking forward to getting in three days of stellar riding, and some serious drinking, at WB - while all the locals stay home.

tex1230 · January 20, 2010

By Cristina Alesci

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Creditors of Intrawest ULC, a ski-

resort operator owned by Fortress Investment Group LLC, plan to

auction off equity in a unit that controls properties including

a venue for next month’s Olympics, according to a public notice.

The Feb. 19 auction by the lender-appointed trustee,

Wilmington Trust FSB, follows Intrawest’s failure in December to

make the final payment on a $1.4 billion loan used by Fortress

to finance its leveraged buyout of the Vancouver-based company.

The notice was published yesterday in newspapers including the

Wall Street Journal.

Buyers will get indirect ownership of property and stakes

in resorts such as Whistler Blackcomb in Whistler, British

Columbia, an Alpine skiing site for the 2010 Winter Games, which

begin Feb. 12. Other properties include Mont Tremblant in

Quebec, Stratton in Vermont and Squaw Valley in California,

according to the notice.

Lilly Donohue, a spokeswoman for New York-based Fortress,

didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

William Benintende, a spokesman for Wilmington, Delaware-based

Wilmington Trust, declined to comment.

eajracing · January 20, 2010

just off the Bloomberg ticker:

*INTRAWEST PROPERTY AUCTION SET FOR FEB. 19, PUBLIC NOTICE SAYS

*INTRAWEST CREDITORS PLAN AUCTION OF PROPERTIES :FIG US

tex1230 · January 20, 2010

^^none of those transactions will close before the end of the olympics, I assume - no way an auction sale closes in under a week.

eajracing · January 20, 2010

unless it's already pretty much done... and the 'auction' becomes a formality as echoed by one of the posters on the CBC article (bear in mind we're venturing into hearsay at this point):

WinstonS wrote:Posted 2010/01/20

at 1:41 PM ET

or, as my wife put it:

Dave ESPI · January 20, 2010

LETS, all just hope nothing changes for Stratton* the week of ECES... :freak3:

cause that would just suckkkkkkk.

* hey, Im going there... so it matters! :o

biggerwrangler · January 20, 2010

was there in decemeber, they didn't have enough people on the hills at that time.

with the purchase I wonder if they will add that to the colorado 5 pack. Might make skiing there alot cheaper as tickets are expensive if you aren't using a season pass

skategoat · January 20, 2010

I don't think it's any coincidence that they timed the auction for the middle of the Olympics. Better to draw attention and put pressure on Intrawest.

Allee, it's not like they missed a credit card or car payment. The payment they missed in December was $524-million. USD.

Allee · January 20, 2010

I realise that. But having dealt with the odd receivership or two, there's a process to go through, and that process takes time. I'd be very surprised if they could have things rolling by Feb 19, unless it's been on the skids for a while, and the Dec default was the straw that broke the camel's back. Given that they've been vetoed for rearrangement by the creditors, I'd suspect this is what's happened.

Doing some more readling, the default notice was served on Jan 8, and there's usually a 30 day remedy period for a commercial loan. Depending on the loan agreement, it might be shorter than that, but it's not likely. If the repayment is made within the remedy period, then interest charges get levied, there's some swearing and cussing, and everyone goes home. It's only going to be an issue if the repayment isn't made by the remedy date. To my mind, the loan holder's jumping the gun - or he's very, very confident that they're not going to be able to refinance...

Think about it. If you miss a mortgage payment, your house is not sold out from under you within six weeks. This is a vastly bigger loan, but it works the same way.

Without knowing the whole story, I'm guessing at the details though.

lowrider · January 21, 2010

524 million thats like two whistler condos and a lift ticket isn't it?

skategoat · January 21, 2010

The corporate equivalent to "The cheque is in the mail".

INTRAWEST COMMENTS ON INACCURATE MEDIA REPORTS

VANCOUVER, BC. – January 20, 2010 – There have been inaccurate and misleading media reports surrounding Intrawest today. Fortress Investment Group continues to own and control Intrawest and all of its properties. Serious discussions with Intrawest’s lenders are ongoing regarding refinancing and the Company continues to operate “business as usual” at all of its resort properties. Intrawest is looking forward to the success of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

For further information, contact Ian Galbraith, Corporate Communications at Intrawest (604) 695-8317 or igalbraith@intrawest.com

21 days to the Olympics and all is not well

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