Steamboat Ski Resort acquired by Aspen Skiing Co., KSL Capital Partners

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Steamboat Ski Resort has embarked on a new chapter in its 54-year history, with the news Monday morning that Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc., has been acquired by ski resorts operator Aspen Skiing Co. LLC and private equity firm KSL Capital Partners LLC for about $1.5 billion, including debt.

“This transaction creates significant opportunity for Intrawest and delivers tremendous value to our current shareholders,” said Intrawest CEO Thomas Marano in a news release. “We are excited to work with Aspen and KSL. Our new partners bring additional financial resources and a shared passion for the mountains and our mountain communities. Both Aspen and KSL are committed to helping Intrawest accelerate our plans to bring more value to our guests, more opportunities for our employees and more investment into our local communities.”

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Intrawest stockholders will receive $23.75 in cash for each share of Intrawest common stock, representing a total valuation of approximately $1.5 billion including debt obligations to be assumed or refinanced net of cash at closing.

“We are committed to honoring the deep traditions of each resort, while working with Intrawest’s talented management team and employees to continue to serve both their guests and local communities,” said KSL CEO Eric Resnick in a news release.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2017.

Denver-based KSL Capital Partners is the owner of the Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows in the Lake Tahoe region. Aspen Skiing Company owns and operates Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk.

And there is a Steamboat/Squaw connection in the persona of former Intrawest and Steamboat Ski Area marketing executive Andy Wirth, who is intimately familiar with the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. business model.

Wirth left Steamboat Ski Area, where he had been senior vice president of sales and marketing, in late July 2010, to step up to the CEO role at Squaw. Technically, he had come to Steamboat in 2009, after two years as Intrawest’s chief marketing officer and executive VP of sales and marketing for the parent company, in Vancouver, British Columbia.