A Wyoming golf resort that endured lawsuits over alleged environmental threats to bald eagles and was eventually forced into bankruptcy has finally found a buyer.
Jackson, Wyo.-based Canyon Club Inc. filed a motion on Wednesday, Aug. 11, to sell its golf course, residential development and other real estate to Sun Valley, Idaho's Valley Blue Sky LLC for $90 million.
But the deal needs the approval of Canyon Club's creditors and must withstand an auction, according to court documents.
Valley Blue has already provided Canyon Club with $1 million in debtor-in-possession financing, documents show. Neither Canyon Club nor its debtor counsel, Lee M. Kutner at Denver's Kutner Miller Kearns PC, returned calls on Monday.
The resort, which surrounds the Snake River in Wyoming, had come under fire for a variety of reasons, including its proximity to a nesting habitat for bald eagles, liens filed by several unpaid contractors and two defaulted mortgages.
The company's creditors and investors used the liens to strong-arm Canyon Club into Chapter 11.
The company hopes a sale will enable it to raise enough cash to repay creditors and investors.
"The proposed sale provides sufficient funds to satisfy all allowed creditor claims," the company said in court documents.
Environmental groups took aim at Canyon Club at its 2002 inception, charging the new development would harm the Snake River Canyon's bald eagle habitat.
The groups sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for violating the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by improperly issuing permits to Canyon Club.
But they lost when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver ruled in early March that the Army Corps acted justly by allowing the developer to build on the Snake River wetlands.
In September 2003, Canyon Club was building an 18-hole golf course and 130 houses and condominiums when a number of workers and contractors sued it, claiming they were not paid.
The contractors stalled construction and, with the help of creditors and investors, eventually forced Canyon Club into bankruptcy by filing an involuntary petition on Feb. 6 at the U.S. Bankruptcy court for the District of Wyoming in Cheyenne.
In their filing to Judge Peter McNiff, they claimed more than $16.9 million in unpaid bills. The case was converted to a Chapter 11 reorganization on May 6.
Up until this point, only 10 holes of the golf course and none of the homes have been constructed. Completion of the project is expected by fall.
Citing confidentiality agreements, Mark E. Macy, the company's local counsel at Macy Law Office PC in Cheyenne, would not comment Monday.
Source: Daily Deal/The Deal