[T]he assets at Okemo Mountain Resort are being sold to a firm in Kansas City and a New York City hedge fund as part of a transaction that includes more than a dozen other ski resorts.
Okemo is located in Ludlow. The ski area has 667 acres of terrain, 46 miles of trails, and 10 ski lifts. Tim and Diane Mueller have managed the company since 1982.
The current owner of Okemo’s major assets (buildings, infrastructure, and ski lifts) is CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc, a real estate investment trust that owns the assets of ski resorts and amusement parks around the country.
CNL Lifestyle Properties is dissolving entirely, according to the company’s press release. EPR Properties and funds associated with Och-Ziff Real Estate are buying its portfolio of more than 36 properties, including 14 ski resorts.
The price is $830 million; $183 million in cash and $647 million in stock.
The real estate company will be separate from the company that manages Okemo, according to Bonnie MacPherson, the spokesperson for the resort.
The ownership of the management company will not change.
“Guests will notice no changes as a result of this change in ownership of the assets and internally, it just means that we are sending the rent check to a new landlord,” MacPherson said.
The management company is called Triple Peaks, MacPherson said, and the Muellers still own it. “The Muellers have no plans to sell Triple Peaks, the management company,” she said. “Okemo is still Okemo.”
The other resorts whose assets are being sold in the transaction include Mount Sunapee Mountain Resort in New Hampshire and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, both of which are owned by the Muellers. Sugarloaf Mountain Resort in Maine is also part of the deal.
The Associated Press calls the sale of Okemo and other resort assets “the largest ski resort transaction ever.” The deal will likely close in March or April, according to MacPherson.
Stephen H. Mauldin, CEO of CNL Lifestyle Properties said: “We have deep respect for the approach EPR takes to managing its properties and believe this transaction is the best fit for selling the remaining properties in our portfolio as we complete our exit strategy to provide liquidity to shareholders.”
