Vail Resorts agreed to buy Whistler Blackcomb on August 8, 2016 and completed the purchase on October 17, 2016. The price depends on the date you measure. At announcement, the cash and stock portions added up to roughly US$1.05 billion (about C$1.4 billion); at closing, Vail Resorts' annual report puts the aggregate consideration at approximately US$1.09 billion, because the stock portion moves with Vail Resorts' share price and the exchange rate.
The deal in figures
| Item | What the filings say |
|---|---|
| Announced | August 8, 2016, as a plan of arrangement between Vail Resorts and Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. (then listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange) |
| Completed | October 17, 2016; Whistler Blackcomb became wholly owned by Vail Resorts |
| Offer per Whistler Blackcomb share | C$17.50 in cash plus Vail Resorts stock, for total value of C$36.00 per share at announcement |
| Stock exchange ratio | 0.0975 Vail Resorts shares per share at announcement; 0.097294 in the completion release, after the currency adjustment |
| Estimated cash component at announcement | C$676 million (US$513 million), financed by expanding Vail Resorts' credit facility |
| Estimated stock component at announcement | C$715 million (US$543 million), based on August 5, 2016 prices and exchange rates |
| Aggregate consideration at closing | About US$1.09 billion: roughly C$673.8 million in cash, 3,327,719 Vail Resorts shares and 418,095 shares of a Canadian subsidiary exchangeable into Vail Resorts stock |
| Debt at the resort partnerships | C$171 million (US$132 million) at March 31, 2016, to be assumed or refinanced |
Figures are from Vail Resorts' August 8, 2016 announcement, its October 17, 2016 completion release and its annual report for fiscal 2017. The announcement converts dollars at August 5, 2016 exchange rates, so its US figures are not directly comparable with the closing figure.
What Vail Resorts was buying
Whistler Blackcomb Holdings owned 75 percent of the two partnerships that operated the resort. Both mountains sit on Crown land in the traditional territory of the Squamish and Lil'wat Nations, and Vail Resorts' fiscal 2017 annual report says the operating agreements with the Province of British Columbia were signed in February 2017 for a 60-year term running to 2077.
On earnings, the announcement gave two figures: adjusted EBITDA of C$123 million (about US$90 million) for the twelve months to March 31, 2016, and Vail Resorts' own estimate that the acquisition would add about US$129 million of Resort Reported EBITDA in fiscal 2018 if it closed before the end of 2016. The second figure was a 2016 projection, not a reported result.
By Vail Resorts' description, Whistler Blackcomb has two mountains linked by the PEAK 2 PEAK gondola, over 200 marked runs, more than 8,000 skiable acres and 16 alpine bowls, and hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. Whistler Blackcomb's site puts the resort at 8,171 acres and 36 lifts, calling it the largest ski resort in North America. Vail Mountain, by comparison, has approximately 5,300 skiable acres.
Why Vail Resorts wanted it
Vail Resorts' annual report describes the strategy as driving season pass sales and connecting key skier markets to its destination resorts, and it calls Whistler Blackcomb a world-renowned destination that draws more than two million skier visits a year and a popular one for international visitors. The announcement said the deal would extend the Epic Pass products to Whistler Blackcomb and that Whistler Blackcomb shareholders would together own about 10 percent of Vail Resorts after closing.
What changed for pass holders
In the year after the purchase, Vail Resorts' lift revenue included products that did not exist before, chiefly Whistler Blackcomb season passes and EDGE Cards, the latter available only to Canadian, Washington State and Oregon residents, per the company's fiscal 2017 annual report. The fiscal 2025 annual report says the Epic Pass gives unlimited and unrestricted access to all of the company's resorts, Whistler Blackcomb among them, and that pass products produced about 65 percent of lift revenue in fiscal 2025. Vail Resorts now operates 42 destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas.
Rival multi-resort passes followed: the company's fiscal 2018 annual report names the IKON Pass among its competitors.
Vail Resorts' other acquisitions
For the full list of properties, see what resorts Vail Resorts owns, and for the ownership structure behind Vail Mountain itself, who owns Vail ski resort. Earlier deals are covered in how Vail acquired Park City and when Vail Resorts bought Breckenridge. What the company as a whole is worth today is a separate question, taken up in how much Vail Resorts is worth. Skiers weighing whether a season pass covers the trip can start with the Epic Pass listing.
