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and Acquire The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage from Olympus Real Estate Partners |
VAIL, Colo., Oct. 17, 2001 - Vail Resorts, Inc.
(NYSE: MTN) announced today that the Company has entered into an agreement
with Olympus Real Estate Partners, a private investment fund, to acquire
a majority interest in Rockresorts International LLC, a luxury resort hotel
management company, and has secured management contracts on its five resort
hotels across the United States. Vail Resorts also announced that
the Company has entered into a contract to acquire The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho
Mirage from Olympus. The hotel will be renamed The Lodge at Rancho
Mirage and will be managed by Rockresorts. Additionally, Vail Resorts
announced that five of its existing hotels, currently managed as independent
properties, will be re-branded and managed by Rockresorts.
Both transactions combined are expected to be accretive by one to two cents in fully diluted earnings per share in fiscal 2002. Vail Resorts and Olympus also announced their intention, separately and together, to grow the Rockresorts brand further, through additional resort hotel acquisitions and management contracts in the future. ROCKRESORTS
The
Rockresorts brand, originally created in 1956 by Laurance Rockefeller,
has a rich and vibrant history, as well as a legendary reputation in the
U.S. hotel industry. At one time, the Rockresort brand included such
notable properties as Mauna Kea, Little Dix Bay and Caneel Bay. The brand
had been idle for several years when Olympus acquired it in 1999, with
the intention of resurrecting the tradition of providing outstanding service
and extraordinary locales for travelers. The Rockresorts portfolio currently
consists of five Olympus-owned luxury resort hotels: the Cheeca Lodge in
the Florida Keys, The Equinox in Manchester Village, Vt., La Posada Resort
& Spa in Santa Fe, N.M., Rosario Resort in the San Juan Islands, Wash.,
and Casa Madrona in Sausalito, Calif. Rockresorts will manage these
five resort hotel properties, although they will remain under the ownership
of Olympus.
Rockresorts will initially operate 11 luxury resort hotels under the Rockresorts brand: five owned by Olympus; the five currently owned by Vail Resorts; and the newly acquired Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage which will be renamed the Lodge at Rancho Mirage. RITZ-CARLTON Rancho Mirage The acquisition of The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage is also expected to close on Nov. 1, 2001, for an initial consideration of $20 million, followed by a second payment of $25 million two years later. After closing, the hotel will be renamed the Lodge at Rancho Mirage and will be managed by Rockresorts as the 11th Rockresort. In calendar 2000, the hotel reported EBITDA of $6.6 million prior to management fees and a reserve for furniture, fixtures and equipment replacement. The four-star, four-diamond Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage is located 650 feet above the Coachella Valley floor near Palm Springs, Calif. The hotel has 240 guest rooms, including 21 suites; a full service spa, salon and fitness center; an outdoor swimming pool and jacuzzi; three restaurants and a bar; almost 12,000 square feet of conference and meeting space (including an 8,400-square-foot ballroom); additional outdoor function space; a gift shop; and two leased retail spaces. Adam M. Aron, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts,
commented, "Vail Resorts is embarking on a bold and important new strategic
direction with our investment in the legendary resort hotel brand, Rockresorts.
This is consistent with our strategy to aggressively grow our hospitality
business, creates a strategic platform for future resort hotel acquisitions
and management contracts across North America, and helps our company to
reduce weather dependency and seasonality.
Statements in this press release, other than statements of historical information, are forward looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. |
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Contact:
Vail Resorts, Inc.
Justine Reed +1-970-845-2714 [email protected] http://www.vailresorts.com |