Intrawest, the Canadian ski slope portfolio company owned by Fortress Investment Group, has sold two resorts to French holiday company, Pierre et Vacances.
Intrawest Hotels & Residences said in a statement it had agreed to sell the lodging and commercial operations at Arc 1950 Resort in Savoie and the Flaine Montsoleil Resort in the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps.
Arc 1950 Resort was Intrawest's first mountain resort in Europe. The acquisition agreement includes the resort's lodging management business which consists of 655 apartments managed under the Radisson and Intrawest Hotels & Residences brands. Also included in the transaction is the management of two restaurants, one bar, and two commercial spaces located in the resort village.
The operations at Flaine Montsoleil Resort include the resort's lodging management business which consists of 138 apartments. All of the staff associated with the resorts are transferring to Pierre et Vacances under the terms of the deal.
The acquisition is scheduled to close on 1 October 2009, the companies said.
Vancouver-based Intrawest, which also owns the well known Whistler Blackcomb slope in Canada, has interests in 10 ski resorts globally.
As well as operating the resorts, Intrawest develops, markets and sells the real estate.
New York-headquartered Fortress acquired the group in 2006 for $2.8 billion in conjunction with private equity real estate firm Grove International.
The deal was a leveraged buyout with a $1.7-billion loan, which the company managed to refinance last year after a long struggle. In April this year, Reuters reported Intrawest was eyeing asset sales to pay down debt.
If you do not receive this within five minutes, please try to sign in again. If the problem persists, please email: 
