Zermatt Resort purchased by Legacy Resorts

MIDWAY — Zermatt Resort, a luxury spa, restaurant and conference center in the Heber Valley, has been purchased by Legacy Resorts LLC.

"We are more excited today than we were five years ago when my wife and I purchased a resort getaway townhome at Zermatt Resort," said Steve Eddington, managing member of Legacy Resorts. "The increased excitement today is shared with other Zermatt homeowners, who feel the same way we do, having formed a partnership committed to continuing employment for over 200 local employees, beautiful Midway city support and the highest level of service to resort guests and homeowners."

The Legacy press release did not disclose a sale price.

Zermatt Resort has 404 rooms in a facility that highlights the area's Swiss heritage. It offers indoor-outdoor swimming, tennis, geothermal hotpots and nearby skiing and golfing.

Investors in the luxury resort objected to an auction held earlier this month because they said the company that was selling the resort was the same company that was buying it, according to an Aug. 10 report by KSL.

The idea was to eliminate as much as $20 million in debt, investors claimed, according to KSL.

Jaren Davis, a managing member-investor in Zermatt, objected strongly to the Aug. 9 auction and maintained it was simply a scheme created by the other managing investor, Bob Fuller, to have the only bidder be a new firm with which Fuller is associated, namely Legacy Resorts, KSL said. The bid was $16.5 million.

KSL reported that Legacy Resorts previously had made arrangements with the principal lender, took over the mortgage from America First Credit Union, then foreclosed on the property and sold the property to itself.

However, Kim Wilson, the attorney for Legacy Resorts, said the transaction was completely legal, KSL reported. "It was a public proceeding. The entire public, the entire world, was invited to bring their money," Wilson said at the time.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com