CrossHarbor and Boyne to Buy, Run Moonlight

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15 August 2013

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SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., Aug. 15, 2013—Yellowstone Club owner CrossHarbor Capital Partners, in partnership with Boyne Resorts, which operates Big Sky Resort, are acquiring Moonlight Basin from Lehman Brothers Holdings, which owned Moonlight through a 2012 bankruptcy sale. The deal is expected to close within the next several weeks.

In a statement released Wednesday, the new owners termed the purchase “the next step in the creation of one of the largest and most compelling mountain resort experiences in North America.” Big Sky will assume operation of Moonlight, which sits on the opposite side of Lone Mountain and is connected to Big Sky via lifts and trails already, and integrate it with Big Sky. The combined area has more than 5,700 skiable acres, 4,350 vertical feet and 23 chairlifts.

This is the second acquisition in less than a month by the CrossHarbor/Boyne team. They bought the Spanish Peaks residential community out of bankruptcy in late July. The latest deal means that future development will be coordinated between Big Sky, Moonlight, and Spanish Peaks..

“This investment is another important step forward for Big Sky and underscores the strength of our new partnership with Boyne Resorts,” CrossHarbor managing partner Sam Byrne said in the statement. “The investment also reflects the broader potential we see for the region and sets the foundation for long-term growth.”

“The alliance to acquire Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks with CrossHarbor Capital Partners, another long-term strategic player in the Big Sky area, creates the opportunity for a stable and coordinated effort in helping the community and the region fulfill its experiential and economic potential," said Stephen Kircher, president of Boyne Eastern Operations, in a prepared statement.