American Skiing Co. sells resort

DENVER — American Skiing Co. said Tuesday it has agreed to sell Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., one of the nation's largest ski areas, for $265 million in cash to Canadian resort operator Intrawest Corp.

The move, which is subject to regulatory approval, would bolster Intrawest's resort holdings in Colorado to three while helping Park City-based American Skiing's bottom line.

"At the end of the day it's a transaction that is the right thing to do for American Skiing Co. and creates a tremendous amount of value for us," B.J. Fair, president and chief executive officer of American Skiing, told The Associated Press.

In a statement, Intrawest President Alex Wasilov said the deal fits with the company's strategy to expand through acquisitions.

The sale will include the resort at Steamboat Springs about 110 miles northwest of Denver, some real estate assets, a hotel and the company's interest in the Walton Pond Apartments. The privately held Intrawest also agreed to assume $4 million in debt. The deal is expected to close by March.

Fair said proceeds from the sale would be used to reduce outstanding debt and to focus on developing other properties.

American Skiing, which also owns resorts at Killington, Vt., and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine, announced plans to sell the Steamboat Springs resort in July, citing favorable market conditions. In October 2005, privately held Starwood Capital Groups purchased a controlling interest in California's Mammoth Mountain Ski Area for $365 million.

American Skiing purchased the Steamboat Springs and California's Heavenly ski resorts for $288.3 million in 1997.

In 2002, American Skiing agreed to sell the Colorado resort to an investor group for about $91 million but backed out of that agreement and later sold Heavenly to Vail Resorts Inc.

Fair said there was a fair amount of interest in Steamboat Springs this time but declined to identify other parties, citing confidentiality agreements.

American Skiing also owns Killington, Pico and Mount Snow resorts in Vermont; Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine and the Canyons in Park City, among other properties.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Intrawest is one of the world's largest resort operators with interest in 10 North American resorts including Copper Mountain and Winter Park in Colorado and Whistler Blackcomb in Canada.

The ski area at Steamboat Springs was founded in 1963 and has become well-known as a training ground for U.S. Olympic athletes which has earned it the title of Ski Town USA.

Last year, the Steamboat Springs ski area recorded more than 1 million skier visits and was among the top 10 busiest resorts in the United States.