Vail Resorts have bought Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) from owners Powdr Corp. for $182.5 million.
The sale ends an increasingly acrimonious period between the two US resort owning giants and comes just says after Powdr agreed to pay a multi-million dollar bond to be allowed to keep operating the ski area this season while litigation with Vail continued.
Vail had previously won a legal eviction order for PCMR earlier this year during an ongoing court battle which has its roots in PCMR's failure to agree a renewal of their lease on the land where the upper part of their ski slopes are located three years ago.
Powdr Corp said they did not want to sell, their CEO John Cumming explained their decision in a statement,
"Selling was the last thing we wanted to do, and while we believe the law around this issue should be changed, a protracted legal battle is not in line with our core value to be good stewards of the resort communities in which we operate …A sale was the only way to provide long-term certainty for PCMR employees and the Park City community. My family and I are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play a role in making PCMR what it is today, and we deeply appreciate the dedicated employees and all of the people who have supported us over the years."
Vail say it will be business as usual at PCMR this year under their ownership. There is now the potential for them to link PCMR to neighbouring Canyons ski area, which the company took over in 2013, to create the largest ski area in the US and the second largest in North America, behind Whistler.