The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have not found any antitrust issues in the proposed deal by Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL Capital Partners to buy California’s Mammoth Mountain and Intrawestap six ski resorts, including Colorado’s Steamboat and Winter Park resorts.
that the waiting period required under federal antitrust legislation had expired. That legislation, the Hart Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, prohibits mergers and acquisitions until federal agencies examine the deal for potential antitrust violations.
The lack of antitrust issues clears a hurdle for a blockbuster deal certain to generate increased season pass sales competition in the U.S. ski resort industry, which is dominated by Colorado’s Vail Resorts and its popular Epic Pass.
Roaring Fork Valley ski area operator Aspen Skiing and Denver private equity firm KSL Capital Partners joined earlier this year in a and its 12-lodge CMH helicopter skiing operation. The and three other smaller southern California ski areas for an undisclosed price.