A group of local investors plans to buy Killington Resort and Pico Mountain from POWDR, the resorts’ current owner. The sale is expected to be finalized this fall, according to a press release from Killington Resort.
The new ownership group is led by Phill Gross and Michael Ferri, who both own homes in Killington. The sale price has not been disclosed.
The group plans to increase capital investments in the resorts, and will announce more details after the sale closes, the press release says.
“We are thrilled to guide the mountain into a substantial investment phase,” Goss and Ferri said in a written statement. “We look forward to giving them the resources to up our game and continue to evolve Killington as a leader among world-class resorts with strong local roots.”
Gross is a co-founder of Adage Capital Management, a Boston-based hedge fund, and is on the board of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and the World Cup Dreams Foundation. He also founded the Share Winter Foundation, and Killington World Cup Foundation.
Ferri is a partner and owner of Valvoline Instant Oil Change franchises on the East Coast. He started coming to Killington as a boy, and his family’s owned a house in the town since 1970, according to the press release. Ferri has been a Killington Mountain School trustee since 2008.
This local group, they’ve been skiing here for decades, and they really like what we’ve been doing — so they just want to be able to give us more resources to continue to make Killington a great resort.Mike Solimano, president of Killington Resort
Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort, which opened in 1958, called the sale great news for the team at the resort and said no changes are planned.
“Everybody’s staying on,” Solimano said in an interview. “This local group, they’ve been skiing here for decades, and they really like what we’ve been doing — so they just want to be able to give us more resources to continue to make Killington a great resort.”
He said the community should not expect any big changes.
According to the press release, both Killington and Pico will remain on the Ikon Pass, which allows skiers and boarders access to ski resorts in North America, Europe and Japan.
Killington Select Board Chair Jim Haff said he’d heard rumors about the upcoming sale and was excited the resorts will soon be under local control, pending finalization of the sale.
“POWDR was doing a great job, but they're a large corporation and they have many different resorts,” Haff said. “With these gentlemen here, whatever profits that are going to come out of Killington ski resort will be put right back into the ski resort.”
POWDR, the current owner of Killington and Pico, will retain a minority ownership stake in the resorts and have a seat of the board of directors, according to the press release.
POWDR, which owns several ski resorts including Snowbird in Utah and Copper Mountain in Colorado, bought Killington and Pico for $83.5 million in 2007. The company invested in new ski lifts and snowmaking, and built two new lodges at Killington, including a new $29 million base lodge.
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