The Winter Olympics start next month. These have been anticipated for quite some time being organised in Whistler. All is going well but for one resort which is witnessing a rather unexpected fate. News is that the Whistler Blackcomb, which playing an important part in hosting the games, will end up being auctioned off right in the middle of the Olympics.
Apparently, the resort’s owner has failed to make payments on a $1.7 billion loan. We are talking about a private firm and hedge fund Fortress Investment Group. It bought the resort for $2.8 billion in 2006 and it was a pretty smooth sailing for them until the economic meltdown occured last year.
As of today, Fortress is busy refinancing the loand and lenders. The Wall Street Journal, in fact, saw the announcement of a public auctions of the assets of the Intrawest which will include a bunch of winter resorts sprinkled all over North America. The date of auction is February 19. This one is going to prove to be a smack dab for the Olympics and not to mention the Fortress fellas.
Via theglobeandmail
