The Franco-Swiss company e-Liberty wants to buy Valais ski areas. After acquiring several stations in Quebec, the Neuchâtel-based firm is now eyeing Grächen and Belalp, in financial difficulties, as well as Torgon, which went bankrupt last year, RTS has learned.
Known for its know-how in platforms and software dedicated to ski areas, such as the dynamic price subscription sales system for example, e-Liberty is in discussions with a company linked to the French ski area of Châtel for a joint takeover of Torgon , according to information from RTS.
The company, which does not hide its ambitions, sees potential in these stations. “They have no short-term climate risk,” explains Christian Mars, director of e-Liberty, in La Matinale de la RTS. “For Belalp, the area starts at 2000m and goes up to 3100m. For Grächen, it starts at 1650 and goes up to 2800 on the north slope.”
“We therefore think that these stations have sustainability, but that they are today in a situation where they are not able to invest,” he adds.
American model
The IT firm therefore intends to invest in the infrastructure of these resorts, such as ski lifts or snow cannons. But to be profitable, part of the strategy comes from the American model. “An owner of American resorts owns everything: ski lifts, hotel, restaurants, ski shops,” says Christian Mars, recalling that in Switzerland, with a few exceptions, ski lift operators only own these.
“We have to work in both directions, preserving the profitability of ski lift operators and trying to better work an ecosystem,” he declares, because “skiing as such is extremely difficult to make profitable if we don’t not integrate into the system. The director of e-Liberty therefore promises to work “in both directions, by building tourist beds to bring skiers from elsewhere”, adding that if opportunities presented themselves, the company “would buy restaurants or hotels to private individuals who would like it.
>> Listen to the interview with Christian Mars in La Matinale:
Local investments
After the Americans from Vail Resorts in Crans-Montana, the interest of this new player in the canton’s ski resorts leaves the Valais government with mixed feelings. If State Councilor Christophe Darbellay is delighted that the stations are attracting investors, he affirms his desire to favor local financing.
“I think it would be a good thing for us to keep control of our ski lifts as much as possible, because they really are the backbones of our tourist destinations,” he says. The State Councilor believes, however, that “it is at the back of the wall that we recognize the mason” and that consequently, “it is in the light of the investment and development capacity of a destination ” that the canton “will measure the quality of an investor”.
>> Listen to the interview with Christophe Darbellay in La Matinale:
Radio subject: Emilien Verdon
Web adaptation: Emilie Délétroz
