Collapsed VIP Ski acquired by founder
Collapsed ski operator VIP Ski has been acquired by a business owned by its founder, Andy Sturt, for £175,000.
The sale was confirmed in documents lodged with Companies House which showed unsecured creditors were owed £6.75 million by VIP Ski parent APS Select.
The operator went into administration in November, blaming Covid for wrecking the business.
At the time, Sturt, founder and Managing Director of VIP Ski, apologised for ‘not being able to find a way through this and for letting you all down’.
But Sturt has now acquired some of the assets and the brand in a deal struck with administrators, ReSolve.
More than 35 companies showed initial interest in acquiring the business, with six firm offers received – including one from management.
That was narrowed down to three, with ReSolve accepting a £175,000 offer from Vita Brevis, a company run by Sturt.
"The decision was made to accept (the offer) as the cash consideration, future revenue share, transfer of retained staff (thus mitigating additional preferential claims) and reduction of unsecured claims will result in an overall better outcome for the creditors of the company," the report said.
The adminstrators said a distribution to unsecured creditors is anticipated ‘provided further assets are recovered’.
Documents showed VIP Ski carried 10,000 passengers in 2018/19, falling to 2019/20 as Covid began to spread. As at 31 May 2020 the operation had a turnover of around £11m.
The business had forcast a profit of £400,000 prior to Covid, but since 15 March had cancelled all bookings, affecting 2,667 customers.
While initially hoping to trade through – 60% of customers had re-booked for 2021/22 – the decision of Austrian and French authorities to close its ski slopes forced the company into administration, the report added.
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