SEC Company Response from VAIL RESORTS INC (MTN) (CIK 0000812011) (MTN) — Jun 7, 2007
VAIL RESORTS INC (MTN) (CIK 0000812011)
Date: June 7, 2007 · CIK: 0000812011 · Accession: 0000812011-07-000018
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File numbers found in text: 001-09614
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Correspondence
Vail
Resorts, Inc.
390
Interlocken Crescent,
Suite
1000
Broomfield,
CO 80021
June
7,
2007
Mr.
Michael Fay
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Mail
Stop
3561
Washington,
DC 20549
Re:
Vail
Resorts, Inc.
File
No. 001-09614
Form
10-K: For the Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2006
Dear
Mr.
Fay:
We
have
set forth below our response to the comment of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “Commission”) staff (the “Staff”) in the letter from the Staff
dated May 11, 2007, regarding the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by Vail
Resorts, Inc. (the “Company”) for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2006 (the “Form
10-K”).
Form
10-K: For the Fiscal Year Ended July 31, 2006
Item
8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows
Comment
1: We have reviewed your response to our prior comment number 2. However, we
believe that cash outflows related to i) investments in real estate and ii)
the
development of acquired real estate properties should be classified in the
operating activities section of your statement of cash flows, to the extent
that
such properties are going to be sold to third parties. In this regard, we note
from the “Item 1. Business” section of your 10-K that your company- through Vail
Resorts Development Company - actively participates in the planning, oversight,
marketing, infrastructure improvement and development of real property that
is
to be sold to third parties. In addition, we note that you i) regard your real
estate development activities as a separate operating
segment of your company, ii) recognize proceeds from the sale of real property
as revenues (and therefore, cash inflows from operating activities), and iii)
recognize cash received from real property sales accounted for under the
“deposit method” (i.e., deferred real estate credits) in the operating
activities section of your statement of cash flows. Given the aforementioned
factors, we do not believe it is appropriate to report the cash outflows
associated with the acquisition and/or development of real property that will
be
sold to third parties in the investing activities section of your statement
of
cash flows, as such treatment does not appear consistent with the classification
of the cash inflows generated from the sale of these properties.
Furthermore,
we note from your response that you believe it is appropriate to report cash
used for “Investments in real estate” as an investing activity in your statement
of cash flows because you believe that the more predominant source of future
cash flows attributable to your real estate investments will be derived from
your mountain lodging operations. As such, you believe that the cash outflows
are reflective of investments in productive assets. However, it appears that
your conclusion is based upon the assumption that cash inflows realized by
your
mountain and lodging operations will increase due to the proximity of your
real
estate development projects to your resort operations. In this regard, it
appears that your analysis of the predominant source of future cash flows
associated with real estate projects that will be developed and then sold is
based upon the indirect
cash
flow benefits that you expect
your
mountain and lodging operations to experience as a result of the locations
of
these real estate development projects. However, we do not believe that the
indirect cash flow benefits that you expect to receive after the sale of
developed real property should outweigh the direct
cash
flows that will be received from the sale of the developed real property, when
A) analyzing the underlying substance of your real estate development activities
and B) determining the appropriate cash flow classification of such activities.
Furthermore, we note that the indirect cash flow benefits realized by your
mountain and lodging operations as a result of your real estate development
activities are not realized until after the real property is no longer your
asset, and such benefits may not be directly measurable or
supportable.
For
each of the aforementioned reasons, we believe that you are required to classify
your cash outflows in the operating activities section of your statement of
cash
flows to the extent they relate to “Investments in real estate” which is
purchased or is developed to be sold to third parties. As such, please revise
the presentation in your consolidated statements of cash flows. In addition,
please tell us in detail a) the amount of cash used for investments in real
estate that will be reclassified, b) how such amount was determined, c) and
the
nature and amount(s) of any significant cash outflows related to your
investments in real estate that you plan to continue to report in the investing
activities section of your cash flow statement.
Response
1: Pursuant to the telephone conversations conducted during the weeks of May
21,
2007 and May 28, 2007, between the Staff, the Company, and the Company’s
independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
(including a representative of their national office), the Company sets forth
its response and alternative presentation as requested by the Staff.
The
Company has three principal business segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real
Estate. The Company’s Mountain segment owns and operates five premier ski resort
properties which provide a comprehensive resort experience throughout the year
to a diverse clientele with an attractive demographic profile. The Company’s
Lodging segment owns/or manages a collection of luxury hotels, a series of
strategic lodging properties located in proximity to the Company’s ski resorts,
a destination resort at Grand Teton National Park, the Jackson Hole Golf &
Tennis Club, as well as other golf clubs proximate to its resort operations.
Collectively, the Mountain and Lodging segments are considered the Resort
segment that represents the primary operations of the Company. The Company’s
Real Estate segment holds, develops, buys and in certain situations sells real
estate in and around the Company’s resort communities.
All
of
the Company’s holdings of real property are located at its resorts throughout
Summit and Eagle Counties in Colorado and in Teton County, Wyoming. The
Company’s real estate operations include the planning, oversight, marketing,
infrastructure improvement and development of the Company’s real property
holdings. The real estate operations principal activities both historically
and
currently include (1) the development of property that in addition to generating
real estate sales to third parties usually includes the creation of substantial
Company retained facilities that the resort operations use to generate new
sources of direct revenue, (2) the sale of land parcels, including improvements
to the land made by the Company, to third party developers for condominium,
townhome, cluster home, single family home, lodge and mixed-use developments,
(3) the zoning, planning, development and marketing of resort communities
including the arrangement for the construction of necessary roads, utilities
and
mountain infrastructure for the resort communities, including amenities for
the
use by the Company’s resort operations, (4) the purchase of selected strategic
land parcels, and (5) the sale of single-family homesites, including
improvements made by the Company, to individual purchasers.
The
Company’s investments in real estate have been made with significant emphasis on
the benefits to be realized by its resort operations. While the Company develops
real property that is sold to third parties, the fact that the Company has
potential alternative uses for its investments in real estate for the benefit
of
its resort operations differentiates it from a traditional real estate
development company. Additionally, of the Company’s current real estate
landholdings only two purchases were made in the last several years thus
supporting the fact that the Company does not actively acquire real estate
for
development and sales to third parties but rather looks for strategic
opportunities that can benefit the Company’s resort operations. The Company
contemplates both the sale of real estate and/or the development of resort
depreciable assets when it acquires real property since all of its real estate
holdings are proximate to its resorts. In fact, the predominant activity of
the
Company’s current development efforts include mixed-use development projects
that includes condominiums to be sold to third parties, as well as hotels,
private clubs, spas, commercial lease space and skier services facilities all
to
be owned and operated by the Company. Therefore, it is difficult (as further
explained below) to separate the majority of the Company’s investments made (at
the time of making these investments) that is expected to be sold to third
parties. Additionally, because of the mixed-use nature of the Company’s
development projects it is required at the close of a project to determine
the
project costs that will be recorded as real estate cost of sales and resort
depreciable assets using the relative sales value method as prescribed by SFAS
67. Due to the complexities of this calculation the Company uses the assistance
of outside appraisal experts to determine each of these components, so to
attempt to allocate project costs as they are incurred would be subjective
and
arbitrary. Thus applying the principles of paragraph 25 of SFAS 102 becomes
extremely difficult in concluding whether an investment is an “investing cash
outflow” or an “operating cash outflow”. For example, The Arrabelle at Vail
Square development project, currently under construction, consists of one
building that contains condominiums that will be sold to third parties, a luxury
hotel, private club, spa, commercial space, parking garage and skier services
facilities. Thus it is difficult to determine whether the components of the
project such as HVAC systems, walls, roof, land and many other common costs
should be assigned to real estate for development and sale versus resort assets
to be owned and operated as specific identification of cost is not feasible
with
substantially all costs being of common nature. Additionally, due to the
disparate nature of the components of this project the Company is prohibited
under SFAS 67 from using a simple allocation methodology such as square footage,
as the resultant answer would be substantially different from the relative
sales
value method of allocation. Furthermore, The Arrabelle at Vail Square was a
project that evolved over several years that entailed a significant amount
of
planning, zoning, design and other similar costs being incurred before the
final
decision was made as to how the land would be used which included several
reiterations of resort and real estate usage, thus further complicating the
ability to make an accurate allocation of costs between the real estate and
resort components at the time the costs are incurred. Consequently, the Company
has relied, in large part, on paragraph 24 of SFAS 95 to determine the
appropriate classification of its investments within its statements of cash
flows, of which determination only considered the direct cash flows from real
estate sales compared to the direct cash flows from those assets (as stated
above) that would be owned and operated upon the completion of the project,
and
did not include cash flows that could not be measurable or supportable.
Furthermore, it is not the intent of the Company to hold its real estate for
a
short period of time and then sell it (which paragraph 24 of SFAS 95 states
should be an operating activity) as evidenced by the fact that the vast majority
of the Company’s real estate land holdings currently held were acquired ten or
more years ago.
Additionally,
the Company believes that it has been transparent in its disclosures within
its
statements of cash flows by including in a separate line item within its
operating activity, “non-cash real estate cost of sales”, which represents
actual outflows from real estate investments made inclusive of prior periods
within the period that the cost of sales is recorded. The Company has also
reflected within its operating activities the ongoing operations of its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Vail Resorts Development Company, which has a
substantial infrastructure (including work force) to support its real estate
operations, including the marketing of real estate investments once the decision
is made to market such investments and to oversee its vertical development.
Consequently, since the Company has: 1) held its real estate holdings for many
years; 2) at the time of its initial investment it does not know the ultimate
use of its land acquisitions; 3) its development efforts include a significant
amount of mixed-use vertical development projects; 4) has been transparent
in
its disclosures within its statements of cash flow; and 5) has recorded its
Real
Estate Held for Sale and Investments as a long-term asset on its balance sheet,
it has historically concluded that it was appropriate to reflect its investments
in real estate as an investing cash outflow which has been disclosed as a
separate line item apart from its other capital expenditures. Additionally,
due
to the extended cycle between the initial cash outflow for investments in real
estate and the inflow from revenues generated from real estate sales (several
years in many cases), the Company has classified its real estate investments
as
a long-term asset and its related outflows as an investing activity as the
majority of the Company’s cash outflows and inflows from operating activities
occur in a one-year or less operating cycle which are primarily driven by its
more significant resort operations.
The
above
conclusion is also supported by the principles as set forth in paragraph 54
of
Concept Statement No. 5 and as further noted by a member of the Financial
Accounting Standards Board in SFAS 95 in that the statements of cash flows
should present few recognition problems because all cash receipts and payments
are recognized when they occur and involves no issues of recognition,
measurement, or estimation, which otherwise would arise if the Company were
to
attempt to allocate costs at the inception of a project or acquisition of
landholdin