WHISTLER (NEWS1130) -Financial troubles for the owner of Whistler Blackcomb are peaking at the worst possible time. The resort will be at least partly auctioned off during the Olympics. But VANOC says it will not impact skiing events on Whistler Mountain during the Games.
VANOC says any possibility of Intrawest's financial problems disrupting the Games are 'minuscule'. CEO John Furlong says they've been kept up to date on the Intrawest financial situation. Their legal staff tell him that all contracts with Intrawest are still valid. VANOC also denies published reports from the U.S. that Olympic organizers were considering could possibly pull any part of the $50 million government sponsored guarantee to Intrawest.
The confrontation between resort owner Intrawest and its lenders has led to the debt holders appointing a trustee to auction the assets so they can get their money. Vancouver-based Intrawest, owned by New York hedge fund Fortress Investment Group, missed a half-billion-dollar loan payment last fall. It has refused lenders' demands that they get equity in the company after they rejected Fortress's plan to stretch the debt out to 2015. The auction is set for February 19th, during the Winter Games.
But Intrawest's Ian Galbraith says the auction notice is a "tactic" by the lenders. He says negotiations with the lenders are "ongoing daily" and that Intrawest continues to own the resorts which are operating normally. The New York Post earlier reported that the creditors plan to foreclose on Intrawest within the next 10 days.