Saas Fee, Switzerland in the winter

In the Swiss town of Saas Fee, local interests and a private investor have purchased over €10 million ($16 million US) worth of shares in their local ski resort from the world’s largest ski resort operator.

Since 2001, the Saas Fee ski area has been partially owned by SwissAlp, a a wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary of Compagnie des Alpes (CDA). CDA has moved to sell its shares in SwissAlp, concluding a memorandum of understanding on October 21st with a group of buyers headed by the municipality of Saas Fee. The buyers include the municipality, local business leaders, and an individual investor, Edmund Offermann. This memorandum of understanding covers the sale for €10.4 million of the entire SwissAlp SA stake (41.6 per cent) in Saas Fee Bergbahnen, the operating entity of the Saas Fee ski area.

CDA became a shareholder of SFB in 2001, and raised its stake from 35 per cent to 41.6 per cent in 2007. However, CDA recently sold its shares in another Swiss resort, Verbier, while acquiring more French resorts. Les 2 Alpes is the latest resort it has shown intention to acquire.

The sales of its Saas Fee shares will result in a net gain of 1.5 million Euros for CDA for the 2009-2010 financial year and will lower CDA debt by €35 million.

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