Hotel investor Petter Stordalen was back in the news late last week, after confirming that he and fellow hotel investor Anders Buchardt planned to launch a new company to invest in ski resorts. In doing so, they aim to challenge Skistar of Sweden, which controls the major Norwegian ski centers Trysil and Hemsedal.
Stordalen, who also boosted his stake in shipping line Hurtigruten last week, moved from sea level up to higher elevations with his fledgling ski resort project. Some might call it overly ambitious, as ski resorts struggle with this year’s unseasonably warm temperatures, but that could also mean potentially lower prices for Stordalen and Buchardt.
They told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) that they want to assemble as many as three to five ski resorts in one new investment company. Both already have invested heavily in Hafjell in Øyer, Oppland County, which was developed as an alpine skiing area in connection with the Winter Olympics at Lillehammer in 1994. It will be their base for further alpine acquisitions.
Purchases will be backed by around NOK 130 million in cash and total starting capital of NOK 280 million, with support from state-owned Investinor. They may also eventually take the new company public through a stocklisting.
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