Group makes serious run at CBMR purchase

Nothing finalized yet.
Potential buyer not disclosed…

While no sales contract has yet been signed, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) management executives are in serious talks with a potential buyer. The signing of a formal sales contract is possible before the end of the month, but as with any business dealing, nothing is done until it is done.

The Mueller family, through Triple Peaks LLC, controls the CBMR ski area operation management contract, along with significant property in and around the resort. The holdings include the Cimarron property at the base of the ski area and the North Village property at the base of Snodgrass.
The Muellers were approached about a possible sale of their Crested Butte real estate holdings earlier this year. That has morphed into a possible deal for the operations aspect of CBMR as well. Letters of intent and non-disclosure agreements were signed this fall.
CBMR vice president and general manager Ethan Mueller said he could acknowledge talks are going on but was not at liberty to say who has made the offer. CBMR employees were alerted about the potential sale late last week. Representatives of the potential buyer have been in town since last week to conduct due diligence and inspect the property.
“The resort has not been and is not actively for sale. At this point, this is only exploratory,” Mueller emphasized. “Please know that myself and our family are committed to making this a successful year for CBMR. The circumstance is like owning a house and everything is going along smoothly and then someone comes to the door and makes an offer on the house. That’s the situation we were in. We were not looking to sell but we were approached with what we considered to be a reasonable offer.”
Mueller said the current sales talks involve only CBMR and not the other two resorts managed by Triple Peaks, Okemo and Sunapee. CBMR is actually owned by a real estate investment trust (REIT), CNL Lifestyle Properties, which has more than a dozen ski resorts in its portfolio. Mueller said CNL is aware of the talks being conducted.
If a deal does culminate with a sale, Mueller said he would expect that all the senior management staff would likely work at least through the 2013-2014 ski season. “But we don’t have any timing with this and that would all be worked out through closing,” he said.

“Thus far the season is looking good, no matter what happens. We are ahead with air seats and reservations, we are setting up with good snow already and the economy is looking good. We are heading in the right direction after what turned out to be a pretty good season last year in a bad snow year. We are focused and excited for the upcoming season.”
Mt. Crested Butte Mayor William Buck said if the sale does or doesn’t go through, the town is ready to support whoever is at the helm. “The future of the ski area and the future of the town are inexorably tied together,” Buck said. “We will work with whoever the owner is. We appreciate what the Muellers have done. If it happens that the operations management changes hands, we hope the company has the financial capacity to move forward. It could do great things for the community in terms of spending more on things like marketing and airlines and product improvement.”
Crested Butte Mayor Aaron Huckstep said whatever happens with this deal, he too is ready and willing to work to help make the resort a success.
“Over the past two years, I’ve seen the Muellers, and Ethan in particular, working very hard to improve the resort—from snowmaking systems that help in lean years, to embracing the USA Pro Challenge as a true partner,” Huckstep said. “When someone is interested in buying your business, you generally listen with an open mind. If a transaction is not completed, I hope our community will continue to support CBMR’s efforts for advancing the resort. And if a new owner does in fact come about, I look forward to working with them for the benefit of our overall community.”
Mueller emphasized that the company told its employees about the sales talks in an effort at transparency. “We are close to possibly entering the next stage of the sales process but as we all have experienced, it’s not a done deal until contracts are signed and money changes hands. We’ve all seen deals not be completed at the last minute, so we are being cautious about these talks,” Mueller cautioned.