Vail Resorts to acquire Peak Resorts in $264M deal

BROOMFIELD — Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) has signed a $264 million definitive merger agreement to acquire 100 percent of the outstanding stock of Peak Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: SKIS), based in Wildwood, Missouri, adding 17 U.S. ski areas to its portfolio.

The acquisition includes a purchase price of $11 per share, subject to regulatory review and Peak Resorts’ shareholder approval. Vail Resorts intends to finance the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand, its existing revolver facility and an expansion of its existing credit facility. Vail Resorts also will assume or refinance Peak Resorts’ outstanding debt.

The Peak Resorts ski areas are located near major metropolitan areas, including Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; New York; Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Resorts include:

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• Mount Snow in Vermont.
• Hunter Mountain in New York.
• Attitash Mountain Resort, Wildcat Mountain and Crotched Mountain in New Hampshire.
• Liberty Mountain Resort, Roundtop Mountain Resort, Whitetail Resort, Jack Frost and Big Boulder in Pennsylvania.
• Alpine Valley, Boston Mills, Brandywine and Mad River Mountain in Ohio.
• Hidden Valley and Snow Creek in Missouri.
• Paoli Peaks in Indiana.

“We are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to add such a powerful network of ski areas to our Company,” Rob Katz, chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts, said in a prepared statement. “Peak Resorts’ ski areas in the Northeast are a perfect complement to our existing resorts and together will provide a very compelling offering to our guests in New York and Boston. With this acquisition, we are also able to make a much stronger connection to guests in critical cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest and build on the success we have already seen with our strategy in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit. The acquisition fully embodies our philosophy of Epic for Everyone, making skiing and riding more accessible to guests across the U.S. and around the world.”

Peak Resorts president and CEO Timothy Boyd said, “Vail Resorts has a proven track record of celebrating the unique identity of its resorts, while continually investing in the guest and employee experience. For this reason, we are confident that our resorts and employees will continue to thrive within the Vail Resorts network.”

Upon completion of the transaction, the 2019-20 Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass and Military Epic Pass will include unlimited and unrestricted access to the 17 Peak Resorts ski areas.

Vail Resorts said its annual ongoing capital expenditures are expected to increase by $10 million to support the addition of the Peak Resorts ski areas. After closing of the transaction, the company plans to invest approximately $15 million over the next two years in one-time capital spending to elevate the guest experience at these resorts.

The transaction has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors. The transaction is expected to close this fall. Vail Resorts said it plans to “retain the vast majority of each resort’s employees.”