Boyne becomes the 3rd player in the ski wars

https://unofficialnetworks.com/2018/05/09/boyne-secures-footing-by-purchasing-of-6-ski-areas/

This sets Boyne up to become the 3rd major player in the ski industry.  I’d predict that they make some big moves in the next year along the lines of trying to buy Jay / Burke, going after Okemo or the truly big play of trying to merge with Powdr creating the 3rd mega brand.

If I read that correctly, they are only buying resorts that they already hold by long term leases, is that correct?  That seems like a financial transaction that shouldn't have any effect on operations or marketing. I'm guessing the new tax law favors owning over leasing, or maybe it was just a good time to convert leases to fee deeds. I'm not sure how any of that increases their ability to buy other new assets, unless the leases were restricted in some way that prevented mergers and acquisitions.

mm

Milo Maltbie wrote

If I read that correctly, they are only buying resorts that they already hold by long term leases, is that correct?  That seems like a financial transaction that shouldn't have any effect on operations or marketing. I'm guessing the new tax law favors owning over leasing, or maybe it was just a good time to convert leases to fee deeds. I'm not sure how any of that increases their ability to buy other new assets, unless the leases were restricted in some way that prevented mergers and acquisitions.

mm

Yes, you are correct.

Isn't this old news? Maybe it was just finalized today but I thought this was already done.

Unofficial Networks shows continues to show off their horrid journalism:

They now include everything from massive urban centers such as Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Portland (*Maine), and Seattle.

First and last time you'll ever see Portland, ME (~67k population) listed as a "massive urban center" and put on par with world class cities. Strong city for Maine and Northern New England in general. But, yea.

Next thing you know they’ll go after Platty which is near the major city of Breakabeen

Those leased areas could have easily been sold to Epic or Ikon and now Boyne has them locked up.  From here they can become a player for other areas instead of just being what they were an manager not an owner.

Maybe those properties could have been sold to a third party, but more likely Boyne had the right of first refusal on any sale.  Maybe this simplifies Boyne's ownership and makes some merger easier by taking one party out of it, and maybe their already talking to someone about a merger somewhere, but it's hard to see how this puts Boyne in a better position to buy anyone out.  That's all just speculation, and the simpler explanation is that it makes sense to buy out the leases now for financial reasons.
I was disappointed when Max Pass blew up, but this one means nothing to me.

mm

I don't think the change in ownership is going to make much difference to most skiers and boarders for a while. That's based on reading the press release on 3/12/18.  Boyne already had the New England Pass that covers Sunday River, Sugarloaf, and Loon.  Plus a points program for money spent at a Boyne resort that could be used for season passes.

EXCERPT OF 3/12/18 PRESS RELEASE

Boyne Resorts to Acquire Ownership of Seven Resorts and Attractions

" . . .
Our intention all along has been to regain and acquire ownership of these resorts," said Stephen Kircher, president and chief executive officer of Boyne Resorts. "We are pleased to see this come to fruition and also really proud of our long-term achievements and diligence that primed us for this acquisition. Boyne Resorts has been a long-term operator of these assets—some for decades. This transaction therefore poses no business interruption or integration risk. This opportunity now at hand will enable us to accelerate and fine tune the execution of our reinvestment plans for these spectacular properties, which will boost our competitive advantages and support our focus on continuous enhancement of the guest experience. . . ."


The locations covered included the Gatlinburg Sky Lift in TN, which also serves some ski terrain but is more important for spring, summer, fall tourists.  The terrain is pretty good for anyone in the area who wants to learn to ski before driving a little farther to WV or NC.  Also has an indoor skating rink and other rides that operate year round.  I stopped by to take a look last summer.

Sunday River, ME
Sugarloaf, ME
Loon, NH
Brighton, UT
The Summit at Snowqualmie, WA - did not own before
Cypress Mountain, BC

The Boyne flagship resort is Big Sky, which recently joined Ikon and MCP. Also have two ski resorts in the midwest, where the Boyne family started out. One of the Kircher sons became the sole owner-operator of Crystal, WA in 2017.

The sale to CNL was in 2007 and long-term lease agreements of several resorts worked out well considering the recession in 2008. Apparently the agreements had some sort of buy-back included that didn't work out when CNL was ready to sell.  So CNL sold to other real estate company.  Guess the timing is right for Boyne to regain ownership in 2018.

What I learned from the Wiki page is that Boyne started expanding out to the midwest by buying Sunday River, Sugarloaf, and Brighton.  Boyne also owns 11 golf courses scattered around the U.S.  They know how to run 4-season resorts.  I don't know about the others, but Sunday River, Loon, and Big Sky have been successful 4-season resorts for a while.

riverc0il wrote

Unofficial Networks shows continues to show off their horrid journalism:

They now include everything from massive urban centers such as Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Portland (*Maine), and Seattle.

First and last time you'll ever see Portland, ME (~67k population) listed as a "massive urban center" and put on par with world class cities. Strong city for Maine and Northern New England in general. But, yea.

Agree.  All Unofficial did was quote a statement in the referenced article from a Vancouver news outlet.  I doubt the original author has even visited Boston and Portland in the same trip.  Or heard all the Boston accents at Sunday River Sugarloaf, or Loon.  Probably wasn't even that aware that Boyne started in the midwest.

In some ways, Boyne has been thinking about how to encourage Midwesterners to ski out west (Big Sky, Brighton) long before Vail brought out the Epic Pass. Big Sky was purchased in 1976 and Brighton in 1986.  Golf courses were added to the mix for Boyne Resorts in the 1990s.  I know they wanted to buy Solitude in 2014 but couldn't make the financing happen for some reason so the owners of Deer Valley got Solitude . . . and then sold DV to Alterra a few years later while keeping Solitude.

I think the announcement a few years ago about the major capital improvements at Big Sky will have far more impact on people in the northeast who take ski vacations out west than this recent change in ownership for the smaller Boyne-operated resorts.  Used to be Big Sky 2020 but recently extended the timeline to Big Sky 2025.  

http://bigsky2025.com

Going to have a lot of brand new high-speed lifts, included 4-pack or 6-pack bubble lifts.  Given the size of the mountain, that adds up to a lot of skiing for ski vacationers spending a week at Big Sky.  Joined the Ikon Pass and still on the MCP.  Plus have the ongoing connections for Boyne pass holders.  I bet Boyne can easily build on MAX Pass expertise in terms of knowing where people came from to take advantage of the MAX Pass for a trip to Montana.

Here's an article about the 2018 purchases that must be based on the Boyne press release.  Unlike most ski resort companies, Boyne Resorts doesn't have a list of their press releases on their website as part of their marketing strategy.  Feels like the family thinks long term and moves ahead in a quieter fashion.  With John out of Boyne Resorts to focus on Crystal, Stephen is the sole spokesperson.

John became sole owner of Crystal in 2017.  It was 20 years after he negotiated the purchase by Boyne Resorts when he was in charge of Boyne resorts in the west and brother Stephen was handling the east.  John was GM of Big Sky for a while before moving over to Crystal as President and CEO in 1997.

http://www.dbusiness.com/daily-news/Annual-2018/Boyne-Resorts-in-Northern-Michigan-Acquires-Sevens-Resorts-and-Attractions/

"Boyne Resorts, an all-season resort company in Boyne Falls, today announced it has closed a purchase transaction with Ski Resort Holdings, an affiliate of Oz Real Estate, to acquire six mountain resorts and a scenic chairlift attraction previously leased by the company.

Boyne Resorts has been the long-term operator of the seven assets and owns three resorts in northern Michigan and Big Sky Resort in Montana.

Included in the transaction are Brighton Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City; Cypress Mountain in Vancouver, British Columbia; Gatlinburg SkyLift in Gatlinburg, Tenn.; Loon Mountain Resort in New Hampshire; Sugarloaf and Sunday River Resort in Maine; and The Summit at Snoqualmie near Seattle.

“Having focused for several years on regaining and acquiring ownership of these resorts, today is exceptionally gratifying,” says Stephen Kircher, president and CEO of Boyne Resorts. “We are proud of the achievements reflected in these acquisitions and excited about the opportunities ahead at all of our properties, as well as for our team members, guests, and the communities we are part of.”

Boyne Resorts was founded in 1947 and is the largest mountain resort company in North America based on skier visits. Its mountain property portfolio is the most geographically diverse among all North American ski resort companies. Its Cypress Mountain location in Vancouver was the official freestyle skiing and snowboard venue of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The company also owns the 134-room Inn at Bay Harbor, Bay Harbor Golf Club (The Links, The Quarry, and The Preserve), Crooked Tree Golf Club, The Alpine, The Monument, The Heather, The Moor, Donald Ross Memorial, Arthur Hills, multiple meeting and event spaces, cottages, multiple restaurants, Avalanche Bay Indoor Park, and The Spa at Boyne Mountain, among other offerings."

Z wrote

. . . truly big play of trying to merge with Powdr creating the 3rd mega brand.

Didn't realize that Powdr became a majority shareholder for Mt. Bachelor back in 2001.  Ian Cummings died in Feb 2018.  But Powdr reorganized as an “Adventure Lifestyle Co.” in 2017.  Owning a few ski resorts, both big (Killington/Pico, Bachelor, Copper) and small (Eldora, Boreal, Lee Canyon, Soda Springs), is just one component of the business.  Woodward is another key component.  Diversifying, not real estate, was the direction that Powdr decided to take.

http://mountaintimes.info/powdr-restructuring-acquisitions-focus/

I don't see Boyne and Powdr merging as a possibility.  Cooperating on a multi-resort pass for the MAX Pass is one thing, merging companies is completely different.  But just my guess. :-)

Even Vail is testing out the idea of cooperating for access for a few days without actually purchasing a resort.  Telluride, Okemo, Sunapee, and Crested Butte have "long term" agreements to be included as perks for Epic passholders.  Season pass holders at those four resorts will get 50% off window prices at Vail resorts for 2018-19.

Oh . . . Okemo, Sunapee, Crested Butte are operated by Triple Peaks but owned by Ski Resort Holdings.  That's the same real estate company that just sold resorts to Boyne.

Never looked carefully at the Boyne approach to multi-resort passes before.  It's a regional approach.  They took care of the home base in Michigan really well for 2018-19.

The 2018-19 full season pass for the two Boyne mountains in Michigan provides unlimited access, plus 50% off at “sister resorts.”  Boyne Mountain full pass holders not only get 50% off at ALL other Boyne resorts, including Big Sky, there was an early bird upgrade option (March 12 to April 6, 2018) to the MCP for $249.  Somehow Boyne manage to keep the MAX Pass upgrade idea for people in Michigan.  Guess the Mountain Collective really wanted to get Big Sky onto the list to replace Telluride.

The Boyne New England pass has been around for a while and covers Loon, Sunday River, and Sugarloaf.  The unlimited Gold NE Pass for adults (19-64) is $1199 until 10/8/18.  There is a Silver version with holiday black out dates, plus two Bronze options (Sun-Fri, Mon-Fri).  Junior 6-12, Teen 13-18, Senior 65-79 are the age brackets. Super Seniors 80+ get Gold and are more or less free with a $30 processing fee.  There are <$400 options for college students and ages 20-29.

For Big Sky, the sister resorts that have a 50% discount are only the places in the west: Brighton, Cypress, and The Summit at Snoqualmie.

For Brighton, not only get 50% off at ALL other Boyne resorts, also get 2 free days at Deer Valley and 2 free days at Solitude.  Plus free rides on the UTA Ski Bus.  Early bird prices are $799-Adult, $649-Millenial (26-30), and $499-Young Adult (19-25).  The Senior pass is for 65+ and goes from $499 to $649 on 5/29/18.