According to Reuters creditors agreed to postpone a foreclosure auction scheduled for tomorrow of the Whistler-Blacomb Ski Area, site of this year's winter Olympics alpine events. Fortress Investments which acquired the resort in a 2006 leveraged buyout, missed a $524 million payment due last December on a loan of $1.7 billion. The auction has been reset for February 26. Among the expected bidders, Vail Resorts, whose ski holdings include Vail, Breckenridge, and Heavenly Valley.
Fortunes for Fortress have plunged since its acquisition of Intrawest. Its stock closed at $4.20 today down from around $35 when the purchase of Intrawest was completed. Meanwhile, Joe Houssian, founder and former CEO of Intrawest, escaped with an estimated $133 million profit from the sale of his company's stock to Fortress. He is now a principal in Vancouver, BC based private equity firm, Intracorp Capital. Houssian is also involved in several green energy ventures and the real estate development and management company, Replay.
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