Case Description
United States and Colorado filed a civil antitrust Complaint alleging that the proposed acquisition by Vail Resorts, Inc. of the ski resort businesses of Ralston Resorts, Inc. would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act. Complaint alleged that Vail and Ralston are the two largest owner/operators of ski resorts in Colorado, and that this transaction would combine several of the largest ski resorts in this region. In particular, this acquisition would increase substantially the concentration among ski resorts to which several hundred thousand skiers residing in the “Front Range” of Colorado — the geographic area lying just east of the Rocky Mountains, and including the metropolitan areas of Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo and surrounding population areas — can practicably go for day or overnight ski trips. The settlement provides that the merging parties must sell Ralstoninterests in the Arapahoe Basin resort in Summit County, Colorado to a purchaser who has the capability to compete effectively in the provision of skiing for Front Range Colorado skiers at Arapahoe Basin.
