A message from CEO Rob Katz on Monday, June 4:
Today is a truly momentous day for all of us at Vail Resorts as we announce that we have entered into two acquisition agreements: The first to purchase three resorts from the Mueller family – Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado; and the second to purchase Stevens Pass in Washington State from Och-Ziff Real Estate. Together, the acquisitions will significantly enhance our network of resorts, the guest experiences we can provide, and will add even more variety and choice for all of our pass holders and guests. To understand the details of this announcement, I encourage you to read the press release that was distributed this morning.
We select each of the resorts we acquire very carefully in order to complement our existing resorts and enhance the power and diversity of our overall network. Individually, each of these newly acquired resorts offer our guests entirely new and distinctive experiences in extraordinary locations from coast to coast. In New England, the addition of Okemo’s family-oriented programs and Mount Sunapee’s unique location will, together with Stowe, create a regional hub that will greatly enhance the experience and variety of options for our guests. In the Pacific Northwest, with the addition of Stevens Pass, an easy drive from Seattle, we now have a fantastic complement to Whistler Blackcomb that gives pass holders access to both resorts. And of course with the addition of one of Colorado’s most unique resorts, Crested Butte, we are offering our pass holders access to legendary terrain in an extraordinary historic mountain town.
Upon closing the transactions, we will be adding our newest members into our season pass products for the 2018-2019 winter season, including unlimited, unrestricted access to all four resorts on the Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, and Epic Australia Pass. Over the next year, we will also be integrating these new resorts into our company, and will be using more significant external resources to help with that process and lessen the burden on our existing teams.
This is a significant milestone for our Company as we establish true New England and Pacific Northwest regional hubs, and continue to strengthen the geographic diversity of our network. Although it will be business as usual for these resorts until we close the deals later this summer, we are looking forward to welcoming our new colleagues into the Vail Resorts family and to working together to create the Experience of a Lifetime for our employees and guests at Okemo, Mount Sunapee, Crested Butte and Stevens Pass in the future.
Rob Katz
Chief Executive Officer