Vail Resorts yesterday "shook up the ski-resort world" with an announcement of its "intent to acquire the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in Canada," according to a front-page piece by Scott Miller of the VAIL DAILY. The deal is "expected to close in the next two-to-four months" and be worth about $1.06B (all figures U.S.). Whistler also "will continue to have 'principally local Canadian leadership,' with day-to-day operations run from Whistler." Vail "intends to retain the 'vast majority' of Whistler Blackcomb employees." Vail Resorts Chair & CEO Rob Katz said, "The reason this came together is that both companies are in a very strong position now." Katz added that operations for the coming season "will be business as usual at both Whistler and at Vail Resorts’ properties." The Advisor Group of Denver Principal Ralf Garrison said that beyond its sheer size -- around 8,000 skiable acres -- and the fact that it leads all North American resorts in skier visits, Whistler "is a popular destination for Asian guests." Garrison added that Vail Resorts has "been interested in tapping the Asian market" for several years and the Whistler deal "gives the company a 'foot in the door' of that market" (VAIL DAILY, 8/9). Vail Resorts said that it will "slash the price of a Whistler season pass" by nearly half and "fold it into Vail’s popular 13-resort Epic Pass, which currently sells" for $809. In Vancouver, Jeff Lee in a front-page piece notes it is the "first foray into Canada" by Vail, which in recent years "has been on a buying spree and now owns nine other mountain resorts and two ski areas in the U.S. and Australia." Vail Resorts said that it will "significantly invest in the property, expanding its attraction to the Asia-Pacific market" ahead of the '22 Beijing Games, as well as "attract new visitors from Latin America" (VANCOUVER SUN, 8/9). CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin said Vail Resorts has been "buying up all over the country” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 8/8).
