Intrawest Buys Four More Years

Whistler-Blackcomb resort owner Intrawest (and its parent company Fortress Investment Group) has apparently swung successfully on the finance monkey bars once again and found a lender willing to not only pay off all their old loans, but also give them another four years to come up with $1.7 billion, according to a story on Reuters.

Details of the new loan were not released, but Intrawest, a unit of Fortress Investment Group (FIG.N), said on Tuesday that all prior lenders had been repaid in full and the new loan does not mature until 2014. . . Intrawest had been negotiating with lenders to refinance the $1.7 billion in debt taken on when Fortress purchased it in 2006. The earlier loans had been due in December.

Sounds like someone has a little more confidence than we do in Intrawest’s ability to turn resort real estate into cold hard cash. Hope there are some buyers, because they’re definitely not going to make up $1.7 billion with lift tickets and green fees.

[Link: Reuters]

