Whether resorts are sold or not, skiing

A real estate investment trust (REIT) that's considering getting out of the snow business could end up making the largest single ski resort transaction in the sport's history.

CNL Lifestyle Properties owns more than a dozen ski resorts from Maine to California that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

If CNL sells all of its 16 properties to one buyer, industry officials say it would be the biggest real estate transaction in the history of skiing.

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CNL Lifestyle Properties owns more than a dozen ski resorts like Sunday River in Maine (pictured above)

The 16 resorts the trust owns stretch from Maine to California and they're worth hundreds of millions of dollars

If CNL sells all 16 properties to one buyer, it would be the biggest real estate deal in the history of skiing

If the firm's resorts - which include Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine, Bretton Woods, Loon Mountain and Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire, Okemo Mountain in Vermont, Crested Butte in Colorado, Brighton in Utah, and Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe in California - do sell, skiers might not even notice because the resort operators' long-term leases will remain in place even if the properties change hands.

REITs bring in revenue through rent paid by ski resort operators like Michigan-based Boyne Resorts, which holds long-term leases for Sunday River, Sugarloaf and Loon Mountain.

A Boyne official said skiers needn't worry about the potential sale of their beloved ski mountains.

Steve Kircher, president of eastern operations for Boyne, said: 'For the skier, it's a nonevent.'

CNL Financial Group managing director Steve Rice said the trust will make decisions 'in the near future'

Boyne will remain the lease holder, regardless of ski resort ownership, for several more decades.

Bob Rogowsky, who skies 70 to 80 days a year at Sunday Rive and recently bought a retirement home in the area, said most skiers are pleased with the investments that have been made since CNL bought the resort and Boyne began running it in 2007.

He said: 'I wouldn't have made that kind of financial commitment and lifetime commitment if I didn't believe there was stability and a good future.'

Ski resorts, which are at the mercy of weather and the economy, can be good investments as long the owners have a long investment horizon, said Michael Krongel from Mirus Resort Capital.

The trust will evaluate options for its remaining properties 'in the near future', according to CNL Financial Group senior managing director Steve Rice.

Besides selling its ski resorts, theme parks and marinas, alternatives include a private buyout or listing on a publicly traded exchange.

Ideally, the remaining properties would be sold and CNL enlisted investment bank Jefferies LLC to help evaluate options.

Rice said: 'We're taking a studied and careful approach.'

If the resorts do sell, skiers might not even notice because the operators' long-term leases will remain in place

REITs are an investment vehicle for a variety of properties including hotels, office buildings and malls, but they are new to the ski industry in the last 15 or so years.

There's only one other REIT that's a big player in the ski industry besides CNL.

CNL Lifestyle Properties was valued at as much as $3billion in 2012 with ownership of more than 100 water parks, ski resorts, marinas and senior housing developments.

The trust's value dropped in the aftermath of a real estate downturn.

The REIT is nearing the end of its projected lifespan and anticipates having an 'exit strategy' in place by Dec. 31.

In June, CNL agreed to sell 48 golf properties for $320million.

Then it announced an agreement to sell its senior housing for $790million in December.