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Intrawest Yields To Fortress, Goes Private

By J.D. O'Connor
October 17, 2006

Intrawest shareholders were nearly unanimous in their decision to accept an acquisition offer by New York-based Fortress Investment Group Tuesday, a $2.8 billion deal which will privatize the ski resort operator after 16 years as a publicly held company.

Shareholders voted 99.9 percent in favor of the offer, a move CEO Joe Houssain said will make it easier for Intrawest to continue to grow.

"Fortress has indicated that they want to see the company expand, so I expect the future will reflect what the past has been, i.e. growth," Houssain told reporters following the shareholders' meeting in Vancouver.

Houssain added: ""We will continue to look at other ski resorts. We will continue to look at real estate expansion (and) obviously the travel business."

It was not immediately know if Houssain would remain with the firm, but preliminary indications were that Intrawest would keep current management headquarted in Vancouver.

"Essentially it is business as usual," he said.

Intrawest grew from a small real estate firm near Vancouver in the 1970s to a major developer and operator of ski resort complexes across North America that was eyeing expansion into markets including Japan and China. Its properties include the Whistler Blackcomb resort near Vancouver, which will host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The sale is expected to close by the end of October.

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