After 34 years in British Columbia, Intrawest is pulling up stakes and moving its headquarters from Vancouver to Greater Denver, Colorado by the end of 2011.
The move was publicized on Tuesday when the Vancouver Sun obtained a leaked memo to staff from Chief Operating Officer Bill Jensen.
Intrawest confirmed the memo in an email on Wednesday.
As reported by the Sun in the memo Jensen called it a logical step for the company: "With shared services and Intrawest's two largest resorts already in Colorado, this relocation is the logical next step to the continued growth of Intrawest, and is consistent with the company's long-term business strategy," states the memo.
Intrawest, which is now owned by Fortress Investments, has been slowly divesting itself of properties in B.C.
In January 2010 the cash-strapped company sold its stake in Panorama Mountain Resort to a group of local investors.
In November, Whistler Blackcomb was launched as a separate company in an initial public offering, with Intrawest owning a 24 per cent minority stake in the publicly traded company.
In December 2010, the company announced that it had sold Kadenwood, one of its remaining real estate developments in Whistler, to Ecoasis.
On the other hand, Intrawest ULC still operates two large-scale resorts in Colorado, Winter Park and Steamboat. Intrawest owns Steamboat. Other resorts owned or partially owned by the company include Blue Mountain in Ontario, Tremblant in Quebec, Snowshoe in West Virginia and Stratton in Vermont.
The Intrawest office in Vancouver has been downsizing in recent years since their acquisition by Fortress, and a spokesperson for the Vancouver Economic Development Association told the Sun that the total staff at headquarters is now between 20 and 25 employees. It's unknown how many of those staff members will be going to Colorado, although the memo suggested that all of the senior managers would be making the move.
Read the full story in tomorrow's Pique.
