Sold! Montana’s Yellowstone Club Goes for $115 Million
May 19, 2009 by Eric OKeefe
CrossHarbor Capital Partners LLC paid $115 million to buy Montana’s Yellowstone Club out of bankruptcy court yesterday. The Boston-based private-equity firm agreed to pay $35 million in cash and assume $80 million in debt owed to Credit Suisse. CrossHarbor will also infuse up to $75 million in working capital.
CrossHarbor’s principal, Sam Byrne, is a Yellowstone Club member, and has been closely following its fortunes. In 2008, CrossHarbor attempted to acquire the club for $450 million.
According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the sale capped a week of non-stop negotations in the court of federal bankruptcy Judge Ralph Kirscher. The only other bidder was Credit Suisse, which in 2005 loaned $375 million to Tim and Edra Blixseth, the now divorced couple who jointly founded the club.
As part of the final deal, Credit Suisse will be allowed to co-invest in the club with CrossHarbor. Credit Suisse also received additional assets, including Yellowstone Club real estate and a castle in France that the Blixseths had acquired. Unsecured creditors were recognized by the court as $19 million was set aside to pay local vendors, tradesmen, and others.
This marks the second major bankruptcy ruling in as many months involving Credit Suisse. In April the Promontory Club outside of Park City, Utah, sold to the Pivotal Group for $30 million. Credit Suisse had put together a $350 million loan package for Pivotal, which it used to develop the resort community before seeking bankruptcy protection.
According to the CrossHarbor website, the LLC “is an active investor in the distressed securities market. We invest in a wide variety of securities including real estate loans, corporate loans, and structured securities that are suffering from stress including monetary and/or technical defaults.”
Read more at:
“Cross Harbor Wins Yellowstone Auction,” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, May 18, 2009.
- Sold! Boot Jack Ranch Goes for $47 Million
One of the country’s premier listings, Colorado’s Boot Jack Ranch, sold earlier this month for $47 million. Originally listed at $88 million more than two years ago, the price had... - Sold! Steamboat’s Perry Ranch
A well-known Rocky Mountain landmark, Colorado’s 470-acre Perry Ranch, sold for $11 million ($23,000+ per acre). The sellers paid $13 million for the Routt County ranch in 2007 intending... - $500 Million Everglades Deal Postponed Again
Florida Gov. Charlie Christ is getting a lesson that real estate brokers know all too well: big deals take time. It’s been almost two years since Christ announced the... - IP to Sell 163,000 Acres for $200 Million
International Paper (IP) will sell 163,000 acres in the Southeast for a minimum of $200 million to an affiliate of Rock Creek Capital, a Jacksonville-based asset management firm that... - For Sale: Hall & Hall Lists Montana’s N Bar Ranch
One of the most historic working ranches in the Rocky Mountain West is on the market. The 62,091-acre N Bar Ranch, whose chain of title includes Tom Cruse, Anton Holter,...
News Feed
Congratulations on buying the Yellowstone Club—maybe you’d like to step up and buy Tamarack, another high-toned, high-dollar ski resort gone bust [in Idaho]. Blixseth deserves to spend time in Deer Lodge, but only if he pays the State of Montana for the privilege of prison time. Good riddance.
The Yellowstone Club was a bold new concept that suffered greatly in execution. We have followed the legal troubles and the discrepancies in their aquatic construction. They did not appear to think long term to which this news attests.
Tamarack was a very interesting case. Expert skiers knew it would not offer premier quality snow, but since there were few ski area investment options, the more recreational skiers swarmed to the site. We have done work in the area and it does have merit, but, as with many areas, it was over hyped.