Vail Resorts will buy Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, operator
of the namesake mountain resort in British Colombia, for $1.06 billion.
Vail, the largest ski resort operator in the U.S., will pay 36
Canadian dollars per share in what is approximately a half-stock, half-cash
agreement. The transaction is slated to close by the end of the year.
Upon taking ownership of Whistler Blackcomb, Vail is vowing
to retain “principally local Canadian leadership” as well as maintaining
master-development agreements that will continue to benefit First Nation tribes
in the area.
Vail also said that it will invest “substantially” to
broaden non-winter activities and will honor Whistler Blackcomb’s season passes
for the 2016-17 ski season, after which the resort will be integrated into
Vail’s Epic Season Pass program.
With almost 8,200 skiable acres, Whistler Blackcomb is North
America’s largest ski mountain. Whistler opened in 1966, and neighboring
Blackcomb opened in 1980. The two mountain resorts merged in 1997.