[T]he Sackler family, facing a multitude of lawsuits for helping fuel the nation’s opioid epidemic, has become the largest shareholder in Mount Snow’s parent company, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
And through a series of transactions last year with a company associated with the family, the Sacklers — who control 13% of Peak Resorts’ common stock — now have a path that could lead to owning a majority of the firm.
The family related company, CAP 1, made a series of loans to Peak Resorts. In return, it received preferred stock and warrants giving it the right to increase its investment under certain circumstances, possibly leading to eventual voting control.
According to a Boston Globe review of securities filings, the Sacklers could only achieve majority ownership if the stock price were to rise considerably — and if the family were to invest tens of millions of dollars in exchange for the shares.
CAP 1 is described in SEC documents as a Delaware investment company owned by a trust in which Beverly Sackler and Purdue Pharma’s former president, Richard Sackler, are beneficiaries. CAP 1 is further described as a client of Sumner Road, an investment management firm headed by Richard’s son, David Sackler.
CAP 1’s ties with Mount Snow are concerning to some locals. The Sacklers and their company Purdue Pharma have faced thousands of lawsuits for deceptively marketing the addictive opioid painkiller Oxycontin. Some museums and nonprofits in other states and abroad have started rejecting their charitable gifts under pressure from protesters. Others have returned gifts and financial donations.
Dover Selectboard member Sarah Shippee said some may boycott Mount Snow in the future.
“I’m horrified by what the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma have been accused of,” Shippee said. “We’ve certainly seen a tremendous amount of damage done by that just in our own community.”
Dover Town Clerk Andrew McLean said residents were conflicted about Purdue Pharma’s involvement in Mount Snow.
“Most Snow has, over the years, been incredibly supportive of our community. We have a good relationship with them,” McLean said. “The opioid crisis and any culpability that family might have there is heartbreaking.”
CAP 1 has owned shares in Peak Resorts since at least 2015, SEC documents show. Prior to last year, CAP 1 owned about 40 percent of the company. In addition to CAP 1’s interest, Richard Sackler owns .7 percent of Peak Resorts, the Richard and Beth Sackler Foundation, Inc. own .2 percent and David Sackler owns .7 percent.
It appears Peak is using the Sacklers’ latest investment to expand.
Peak announced last September that it obtained a $70 million commitment from CAP 1 to acquire Snow Time Inc., which includes three Pennsylvania ski resorts — Liberty Mountain Resort, Whitetail Resort and Roundtop Mountain Resort.
A month later, Peak held a special meeting with stockholders, asking them to approve an agreement in which CAP 1 would provide Peak with a two-year $50 million loan at a 6.95% interest rate. Peak disclosed that CAP 1 would provide another $20 million through the purchase of preferred stock under a 2016 agreement.
That $20 million investment came at the same time that Mount Snow was short on working capital because of delays in receiving money invested through the EB-5 program.
Peak cautioned that moving forward with the agreement contained a number of risks, including that the value of common stock could be reduced and CAP 1 could have the ability to control the outcome of future votes.
Stockholder approval was required under Nasdaq Stock Market rules. The Sackler family wasn’t mentioned at the shareholder meeting or in press releases from Peak Resort last fall. Stockholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the agreement.
The Sacklers and Purdue Pharma have faced more than 1,600 lawsuits for their role in creating Oxycontin.
As Peak Resorts was finalizing the details of the loan with the Sacklers, Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan joined dozens of other states in filing a lawsuit against them and their company last fall.
Vermont’s lawsuit alleges Purdue Pharma has generated $35 billion in sales since Oxycontin was introduced in 1995. It claims Purdue Pharma violated the state’s consumer protection and public nuisance laws and says Purdue lied about Oxycontin’s risks of addiction.
Purdue Pharma made a motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit, but that request was rejected by a Chittenden County Superior Court judge last month.
“Vermont has been hit pretty hard by the opioid epidemic,” Vermont Attorney General Communications Coordinator Natalie Silver said. “It’s important to talk about corporate responsibility.”
Silver said she was unaware of Purdue Pharma’s involvement with Mount Snow.
Peak Resorts spokesperson Norberto Aja declined to comment about the Sackler’s investment. Aja said the purchase of the Pennsylvania resorts was part of Peak’s growth strategy.
Peak, a Missouri-based company that operates 17 resorts, acquired Mount Snow around 2010.
Rep. John Gannon, D-Wilmington, said Peak has turned the struggling Mount Snow around, with new snowmaking capabilities along with a number of other investments. Peak recently completed a $22 million base lodge at Mount Snow, which features a restaurant, retail space and two bars. That project used EB-5 investment money.
“They’ve been a good community member,” Gannon said. “I’d hate to see the Sacklers’ investment take away from that.”
The Deerfield Valley News, which was first with the news of the SEC filings, reported that some locals questioned how the Sacklers may benefit from town funding. Mount Snow has previously received funding from Dover’s 1% local option tax to use toward events.
As lawsuits mount, organizations around the world are criticizing the Sackler family. They’ve been named one of the wealthiest families in America and faced condemnation for making their wealth from an addictive drug. Some art institutions have refused to accept money from the Sacklers. Others have even returned gifts.
Facing pressure, the Sackler family suspended all philanthropic giving in the United Kingdom last month.
“The current press attention that these legal cases in the United States is generating has created immense pressure on the scientific, medical, educational and arts institutions here in the U.K., large and small, that I am so proud to support,” Sackler Trust chair Dame Theresa Sackler said in a statement. “This attention is distracting them from the important work that they do.”
Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-West Dover, was hopeful Mount Snow’s high regard in the community would continue, despite the negativity surrounding the Sackler name.
“Mount Snow provides products, employment, and services that many other valley businesses leverage and many employees live off of and that has resulted in many other investments in our valley,” said Sibilia in a statement as she condemned Purdue. “What Purdue Pharma is accused of is abhorrent. The level of human suffering and loss associated with the over-prescription and profiting of prescription opioids is unfathomable.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story, and an accompanying headline, referred inaccurately to the size of the Sackler family’s stake in Peak Resorts. While it is the largest shareholder, the family does not control a majority of the company’s common stock.

