Vail eyes Whistler Blackcomb: report

A major U.S. resort company is one of several firms bidding in the auction for Intrawest ULC's Whistler Blackcomb mountain, site of the Olympic ski events, the Globe and Mail reported Thursday.

The newspaper quoted unnamed financial industry sources as saying Colorado-based Vail Resorts Inc. has had a standing offer for Whistler but has been turned down by Intrawest's owner, New York-based Fortress Investment Group LLC.

Vail Resorts was founded in the 1950s by heirs to the Rockefeller family fortune.

"Vail wants an upscale lineup, close to a Four Seasons Hotel brand and not all Intrawest's properties fit that bill," the newspapers quoted an executive, who it said works with both companies and asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak on their behalf.

Fortress, a deeply indebted private equity group, is trying rearrange its financial affairs in an attempt to hold on to at least partial ownership of Intrawest's eight resorts. It has missed a repayment on some of the debt it incurred with its $2.8 billion US takeover of Intrawest four years ago.

At the same time, Bloomberg reported Thursdaythat a foreclosure auction of Intrawest assets that was set forFriday in New York has now been put off to Feb. 26.

Fortress CEO Dan Mudd said Wednesday in an interview with CNBC that it was in "everybody's interest" for the Olympic Games to go ahead as planned. He added he doesn't believe the creditors chose a date in the middle of the Games as a negotiating tactic.

In the last three months, Intrawest has sold the Panorama ski resort in eastern B.C., a Florida golf resort, and the Squaw Valley ski hill in California, all to raise cash to pay lenders.

"They're trying hard to get enough money together to satisfy the creditors," James Brander, a professor with the faculty of commerce at the University of British Columbia told CBC News, but I personally think it's unlikely they'll succeed."

Brander suspects Fortress is trying to scrape together enough money to convince creditors to ease the terms of the loans and avoid foreclosure.

It might also work for the creditors to wait for another week in order to attract more potential buyers, he said.

The Globe report also quoted unnamed sources in Calgary's financial community as saying Intrawest's biggest domestic rival, Vancouver-based Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, will not be a bidder in the auction. RCR is controlled by Calgary oil executive Murray Edwards and owns six properties in B.C., Alberta and Quebec.