First Andermatt, now Crans-Montana: Americans expand into Swiss mountains

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Last year, US winter sports company Vail Resorts first made headlines in Switzerland. Since August 4, 2022, Vail Resort has been the majority owner of the operating company Andermatt Swiss Alps (ASA), with a 55 percent stake, and is the new boss of Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG. To that end, the company has pledged $150 million in investment money for new elevators, snowmaking systems, restaurants and other guest amenities.

Apparently Vail Resorts doesn’t have that much. As “Le Temps” reports, the company is very close to another major deal in Switzerland. Accordingly, Vail Resorts is in talks to take over the Crans Montana Aminona (CMA) mountain railway in the Valais ski resort of Crans-Montana. The deal struck by CMA’s current majority owner, Czech billionaire Radovan Vitek, 52, with CPI Property Group is expected to be announced later this month.

It is stated that the sale of the chairlifts is contingent on a second agreement regarding the parking spaces under the tracks. Vail Resorts does not seem to be interested in these old and in some cases unusable parking lots and wants to transfer their sale to the municipality. If they are not willing to do this, the deal may fail.

Approval still pending

However, there has been no official confirmation regarding negotiations from Vail Resorts or CMA at this time. “Le Temps” refers to regional informants.

However, such an investment would be in line with Vail Resorts’ strategy. The company says it is always looking for growth opportunities, including internationally. Crans-Montana has things like this: The town will host the World Ski Championships in 2027, thus offering an ideal advertising window. Vail Resorts already has a resort in Valais with the Verbier/4 Vallées ski area.

Who is Vail Resorts?

The Vail Resorts company owns several dozen ski resorts in North America. The best known are Vail in the state of Colorado, as well as Breckenridge (Colorado), Park City (Utah), Stowe (Vermont), and Whistler-Blackcomb (British Columbia, Canada). Vail Resorts also operates internationally: the company operates Australian ski resorts in Perisher (New South Wales), Hotham and Falls Creek (Victoria), as well as Andermatt-Sedrun in Switzerland. There are also various “shared resorts” in North America, Japan, Switzerland, France, Austria and Italy.

Vail Resorts is known for operating its winter sports business “at scale.” Its portfolio includes mountain railways, sports equipment rentals, ski schools, accommodation, restaurants and entertainment options in or near its resorts. The core of the offer is the “Epic Pass,” a sort of all-inclusive subscription that gives you unlimited access to your own resorts and limited access to “partner resorts.”

A few days ago, Vail Resorts reported sales of $2.89 billion and net profit of $268 million for the 2022/2023 fiscal year ending July 31. Therefore, the necessary funds are available for subsequent purchases.

Source :Blick