At the request of Mr. Dave McCoy, founder and controlling shareholder of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has engaged Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin as their exclusive financial advisor to explore strategic alternatives to enhance the value of the company’s shares, including the possible sale of shares. Intrawest will work cooperatively with the Mammoth management team to assist with the process.
Since 1995, Mammoth Mountain has been a key asset in Intrawest’s network of resorts, and in that time it has grown from 900,000 annual skier visits to over 1.4 million skier visits last year. Intrawest remains committed to the vision of Mammoth.
“We are proud of the success we have had and will continue to work with Dave McCoy, Rusty Gregory and their team toward our vision of transforming Mammoth to a world-class destination,” said Joe Houssian, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Intrawest.
As part of the initial Shareholder’s Agreement, Intrawest has a right of first refusal to acquire shares offered to third parties. Similarly, Intrawest has the right to sell its shares. Such decisions will be made at the appropriate time at Intrawest’s discretion. However, a transaction may not ultimately materialize or be consummated.
In December 1995 Intrawest acquired a 33% interest in Mammoth, increasing its interest to 51% in November 1997, 58% in January 1998 and 59.5% in April 1999. Intrawest’s ownership in the real estate portfolio at Mammoth remains unchanged and is not the subject of the current initiative.
