Image caption:

International interest: the ski resort in Andermatt/CH is being taken over by a company from the USA. (c) unsplash

The world’s largest ski resort operator, Vail Resorts from the USA, is taking over the ski resort of Andermatt-Sedrun/CH. For a price of 149 million Swiss francs it is acquiring 55 per cent of the shares from Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris, who since 2006 has been building a CHF 1.5 billion luxury resort with hotels, flats and a golf course in Andermatt. Snow-making facilities, high-class restaurants, lifts and gondolas: the investment sums will flow directly into the expansion of the ski resort. Kaspar Schuler, Executive Director of CIPRA International, takes a critical view of the takeover: “Underlying the CHF 149 million investment are expectations of returns. Consequently, turnover must increase. I fear even more luxury tourists flying in, higher prices for skiers and further interference with the natural world.”

Complicated ownership

In Italy, the UK holding company iCon Infrastructure has just bought the largest ski resort in Piedmont, Via Lattea, for 90 million euros. In France, basketball star Tony Parker caused a stir in 2019 with the purchase of the winter sports resorts of Villard-de-Lans and Corrençon-en-Vercors. Is there now a threat that the mountains will be sold off by major international investors? Andermatt-Sedrun/CH will probably remain an exception in Switzerland, as around 90 per cent of ski resorts there are owned by Swiss family businesses and municipalities. Ownership is often widely dispersed and public participation quickly leads to political debate, making a takeover correspondingly complicated.

“In Italy the picture is similar, with public bodies such as municipalities and regions often involved, not least to compensate for losses”, explains Francesco Pastorelli, Executive Director of CIPRA Italy. The largest ski area, Dolomiti Superski, is an association of more than 160 operating companies. In Austria, ownership is a complicated web of different companies that can be traced back to individual families and banks. Municipalities are also in many cases involved. Attractive ski resorts remain in Austrian ownership, while financially struggling regions usually hope to be rescued by international investors.


Sources and further information:

news.vailresorts.com/corporate/vail-resorts-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-and-operate-andermatt-sedrun-sport-ag-leading-swiss-resort.htm (en), movs.world/magazine/icon-infrastucture-wins-the-sestrieres-company-for-90-million-euros/ (en), finanza.lastampa.it/News/2022/01/24/il-fondo-inglese-icon-infrastructure-acquisisce-le-piste-da-sci-di-sestriere/NTFfMjAyMi0wMS0yNF9UTEI (it), www.addendum.org/ski/wem-gehoeren-die-berge/ (de), www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/us-geldgeber-fuer-andermatt-warum-kein-ausverkauf-der-schweizer-berge-droht  (de), www.derstandard.at/story/2000071089134/wenn-chinesen-die-oesterreichischen-skipisten-kaufen (de), https://www.liberation.fr/societe/tony-parker-en-terrain-glissant-avec-son-megaprojet-de-station-de-ski-dans-le-vercors-20220324_6EDVYBWB4ND7NI6YH4VR4GMV2Y/ (fr)