Intrawest may consider purchasing more shares in California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.
The founder and controlling shareholder of Mammoth Mountain, Dave McCoy, has hired investment advisors Houlihan, Lokey, Howard, and Zukin to investigate what the shares are worth.
No decision has been made on whether or not the shares will be offered for sale.
Intrawest, which holds 59.5 per cent of shares, has the first right of refusal if the ski area shares are offered for sale. Mammoth hosted 1.4 million skier visits last year.
"It is a really great ski hill and it is one of the key assets in Intrawest’s network," said Tim McNulty director of investor relations at Intrawest.
"(But) Intrawest would not pay any price for the shares."
Most of the skiers who use Mammoth Mountain are weekend skiers travelling from Los Angeles, about four hours away, and other nearby cities and towns.
However the area has recently received funding to expand its airport and final studies are underway. McNulty believes the airport could be up and running for the 2006-07 season.
That would likely bring more destination skiers to the mountain.
Intrawest’s ownership in the real estate portfolio at Mammoth remains unchanged and is not the subject of the current initiative.
"It certainly is an up an coming resort and we expect the skier visits to continue to increase," said McNulty.
