Rocky Mountain News – A hedge fund manager pushing Intrawest Corp. – the owner of Copper Mountain and operator of Winter Park – to sell itself has gobbled up more shares of the ski resort and realestate development company.<\/p>\n
Pirate Capital now owns 7.1 million shares, or nearly 15 percent, of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Intrawest, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.<\/p>\n
Hedge funds have grown increasingly feisty by buying large stakes of companies and using them to try to bring about change that will light a fire under the stocks.<\/p>\n
The activist role is a familiar one to Pirate Capital.<\/p>\n
The Connecticut hedge fund firm sent a letter to Intrawest in early March urging the board to “fulfill your fiduciary duties to all shareholders by immediately initiating a sale of the entire company.”<\/p>\n
The hedge fund operator said it believed Intrawest’s stock was worth at least $45 a share and that investors had undervalued the company’s real estate holdings.<\/p>\n
“Numerous potential bidders” are willing to acquire the company, the firm wrote. Pirate Capital added it had spoken with “various parties” and investment bankers about the company’s alternatives.<\/p>\n
Intrawest shares rose slightly on Monday to $36.35. The stock is up 26 percent so far this year.<\/p>\n