Motta Holding (Italy) Srl, a company indirectly owned by the iCON Infrastructure Partners V (iCON Infrastructure) fund, has reached an agreement to acquire the Colomion SpA, a company that manages the ski resort of Bardonecchia Ski, by its current shareholders LBM Italia S.A.S and others, subject to the completion of certain conditions for the closing of the transaction.
Colomion SpA is the company that operates and manages various activities in the Bardonecchia Ski area, a ski resort in the Piedmontese Alps founded in 1938 and an affirmed destination in the international ski market. Recently, the Colomion Group has successfully diversified and developed its activities in the area, now counting 23 ski lifts serving 100 km of slopes, a snow park, 8 restaurants on the slopes, the Alpine Coaster and a bike park in operation during the summer season. With its services, the ski area attracts around 500,000 visitors each year, thanks also to Bardonecchia Ski’s strategic location: a resort that is easy to reach thanks to its extensive network of connections with the Fréjus motorway, the Turin-Paris international railway line with TGV and Freccia Rossa trains, and Turin Caselle airport, located less than 100 km away.
With the acquisition of Colomion SpA, iCON Infrastructure, which has already owned Sestrieres SpA for more than two years, has shown that it believes in the strong potential of the Piedmontese territory, creating a district aggregation of great national and international strategic importance that wants to present itself with increasing prestige to the mountain tourism markets. Thanks to the services offered in summer and winter, Piedmont’s mountains are becoming increasingly important on an international level and for the growth of the region’s economy.
Sestrieres SpA is the company that manages Vialattea, one of the largest ski areas in the European Alps. The company operates 47 ski lifts, spread across seven Italian resorts, Sestriere, Sauze d’Oulx, Pragelato, Oulx, Cesana, Sansicario and Claviere, connected, ski to ski, to the French resort of Montgenèvre. The ski area hosts more than 1.2 million skiers per season.
The two companies will operate autonomously and independently, guided by two separate boards of directors and their respective managements, and always in tune with the territories to which they belong. At a distance of just over 10 km from each other, the two ski areas will be able to propose an all-inclusive tourist offer with features to meet customers’ needs, while continuing to develop and renovate the ski infrastructure and maintaining high health and safety standards for all visitors and employees of the ski area.
Ivana Semeraro, Partner of iCON Infrastructure and director of Sestrieres SpA and Colomion SpA, said: ‘With this transaction, we strengthen the tourism offer of Piedmont in an increasingly international dimension, creating a ski aggregation capable of proposing an all-inclusive tourism offer to satisfy our customers. We aim to further develop both the Vialattea and Bardonecchia Ski ski areas with a long-term development plan for the benefit of our consumers, business and the local communities and institutions as a whole.’
Nicola Bosticco, CEO of Colomion SpA, said: ‘This operation will allow our group to gain more relevance both nationally and internationally. In recent years, we have intensified our collaboration with Vialattea, and now we will be able to create strong territorial synergies, enhancing the value of the two splendid ski areas and promoting sustainable and responsible summer tourism. We are thrilled to be able to contribute to this important project.’
Giovanni Brasso, President of Sestrieres SpA, said, ‘Vialattea and Bardonecchia Ski represent two well-established realities in the ski resort and mountain market at an international level. They have their own identity, but together they will create a strategic tourist hub for the area, making the most of their strengths. The two ski resorts will join forces and work with the same objectives, in synergy with each other and with the territory, boosting mountain tourism in Piedmont.’
About iCON Infrastructure LLP
iCON Infrastructure LLP is an independent investment fund manager with approximately USD 8 billion of assets under management, focused on mid-sized investments in infrastructure assets in Europe and North America. The investments of the funds managed by iCON cover a wide range of infrastructure sectors, including utilities, transport, energy, social infrastructure and telecommunications.
Some of the investments supported by iCON Infrastructure LLP in Italy include Eco Eridania, Sestrieres, NVA and Alliance Medical Italy.
More information at: https://iconinfrastructure.com/
