American Skiing Co. founder Les Otten may be preparing a climb to the top of
his former empire by buying Sunday River, the Maine resort he first bought in
1980 that would become the foundation for his company.
Fueling the speculation that Otten would return after a six-year hiatus as CEO
was the recent announcement by the Boston Red Sox that he sold his stake in
the first-place American League East franchise back to the ownership group,
leaving the team in the hands of financier John Henry and TV producer Tom
Werner. No financial details were divulged. However, the Sox are currently
valued at $724 million,
according
to Forbes.
Even a small fraction of that figure —
if
correct — may be enough for Otten, who recently resigned from American
Skiing's board, to buy the company's Maine resorts. Based on American Skiing's
recent sales of Vermont's Killington and Pico to Powdr Corp. and New
Hampshire's Attitash and Vermont's Mount Snow to SP Land Corp., which were both in the
$70 million range, odds are Maine's Sugarloaf and Sunday River will sell for
around the same figure.
Since ousting Otten as CEO in 2001, American Skiing has become a shell of its
former self. When American Skiing completes the sales of Sugarloaf and Sunday
River, the company will focus on a single resort, The Canyons, which is Utah's
largest ski area. —Matthew Wurtzel
See
story about the Red Sox from The Boston Globe
See
Forbes' baseball list
See
American Skiing auction profile from Auction Block (subscription required)
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