http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7453354Oh my.
Not exactly a proletariat sport, skiing.
cali (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 05:19 AM
THE BITTER OLD VERMONTESE CALI PRIMITIVE
Original message
AIG sells Stowe Mountain Resort- to itself. yep, that's selling your non core investments.
After months of speculation about who would become the new owner of Stowe Mountain Resort, longtime owner American International Group Inc., announced today it has transferred the iconic resort re-branded division of its own, dubbed Chartis.
“We are pleased to announce that Chartis has acquired ownership of Stowe Mountain Resort from AIG effective immediately,†Chartis said in statement released by a Stowe spokesman this evening after resort employees were notified of the change.
Chartis said the transaction is “beneficial to the resort’s employees and the Stowe community at large as it provides stability and clarity on the ownership of one of the finest resorts in the U.S.â€. No value of the transaction was disclosed.
AIG, at the epicenter of the financial collapse of late 2008, owns Mount Mansfield Ski Co., the entity that operates Stowe Mountain Resort. The federal government funneled billions to AIG to keep the economy from spiraling downward, giving taxpayers 80 percent of the company. In late 2008, the reeling company announced all but AIG’s core business would be sold to repay the government.
The resort was not sold to a third party, however. AIG transferred Stowe — complete with a lavish new lodge, two golf courses and extensive ski operations — to Chartis Inc. Chartis is, in effect, a re-branded version of AIG’s property-casualty and general insurance businesses.
Chartis was launched in July with a top AIG executive as CEO and is based in New York City.
The transfer of the ownership to Chartis will have “very little, no impact at all†for the roughly 1,500 employees that work at the resort during the winter, Stowe spokesman Michael Colbourn said by phone this evening.
<snip>
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100106/NEW...
I dunno; I never paid much attention to the sporting past-times of the wealthy.
The only thing franksolich knows about skiing in Vermont is that during the late 1940s, the Trapp Family Singers set up a combination ski resort-music camp in Stowe, Vermont, wherever Stowe is in Vermont.
But if it still exists, I have no idea.
midnight (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 05:22 AM
Response to Original message
1. This is why they say the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.
Xipe Totec (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 06:46 AM
Response to Reply #1
6. This is distribution of wealth, from left pocket to right pocket
Solly Mack (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 05:27 AM
Response to Original message
2. I certainly hope they gave themselves a good deal.
Prometheus Bound (807 posts) Wed Jan-13-10 05:34 AM
Response to Original message
3. 80% taxpayer owned before the sale. Privately owned aftet the sale.
Did taxpayers get anything out of the deal?
Or did I miss something?
cali (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 05:36 AM
THE BITTER OLD VERMONTESE CALI PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #3
4. they got something: they got ****ed.
Turbineguy (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 06:46 AM
Response to Original message
5. Now they can take big bonuses for the sale as well as the clever way they invested.
Where is Madam LaFarge when we need her?
cali (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 06:48 AM
THE BITTER OLD VERMONTESE CALI PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #5
7. I'm the last person to endorse that kind of solution but AIG is stomach churning. They just built the most enormous, ostentatious, hideous "lodge" right at the mountain with, no doubt, our tax dollars.
Atman (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 07:23 AM
#11 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009; PEDRO PICASSO
Response to Reply #7
8. It's a beautiful lodge, one of the nicest I've seen
Ironically, one of the finest ski areas in the east had only a couple of small, relatively rustic lodges up until the new Spruce Peak lodge. Well designed, convenient and none of the things you said. It is big, but Stowe is not just a world-class resort, it is a town and the new lodge area makes the place even nicer. That said, I'm not "defending" AIG or anything. Most people, me included, knew nothing of AIG's involvement in Stowe before their almost-collapse. Stowe is a great ski and snowboard area, and as long as I own part of it, I'll continue to enjoy it. But I NEVER EVER pay full price for a lift ticket!
BTW, the new Spruce Peak area has been under construction for years and opened just before the collapse.
Hmmmmm.
cali (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 07:30 AM
THE BITTER OLD VERMONTESE CALI PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #8
9. There were many places to stay right on or just off the mountain road prior to the new lodge. I don't agree with you on its aesthetics, but each to their own. Stowe is a great area (started ironically by FDR's CCC) I rarely ski there anymore. I prefer the funkiness of Smuggs, Burke and the great skiing at Jay Peak.
Atman (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 07:44 AM
#11 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009; PEDRO PICASSO
Response to Reply #9
10. Jay Peak is the best, Burke is awesome.
But Stowe actually designed a lodge with the customer's needs in mind: it's at ground level, no stairs to climb in big-ass boots; automatic doors, with bathrooms right at the entrance instead of across the building and down in the basement like most lodges. BTW, Jay is undergoing some pretty massive expansion of its own. Stowe's new lodge is on par with the finest resorts out west. May not be rustic like Burke, but Stowe isn't trying to be rustic, it's trying to be a world-class vacation resort. May not be your cup of tea, but mountain is still damned fun!
cali (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 08:02 AM
THE BITTER OLD VERMONTESE CALI PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #10
11. I love Burke. It's a real duct tape place.
love the views of the Willoughby Gap too. And Jay, well Jay just has so much more snow.
ashling (1000+ posts) Wed Jan-13-10 09:01 AM
Response to Original message
12. In further news, AIG is m oving Stowe Mountain to Monte Carlo for the next AIG agent/client appreciation/bonus retreat.
I just made that up
