[box type=”alert”]FOMS believes that, at Mount Sunapee State Park, the State’s primary responsibility is to serve as guardian of the public interest and to preserve and protect the essential conservation and public recreational values for which the park exists to provide.
Commercial development, driven by corporate interests, increasingly threatens public lands. At Mount Sunapee State Park, we must firmly resist the exploitation of our parkland for private financial gain. Additionally, leaseholders at our state parks must demonstrate sound financial management and ethical practices that inspire public confidence and trust.[/box]
Updated 4/24/2018. Below find links to industry press releases and news articles related to the sale of the ski area lease at Mount Sunapee by CNL Lifestyle Properties in 2017.
Provided here are the registry and state-related documents.
In 1998, New Hampshire entered into a lease of the state-owned ski area at Mount Sunapee State Park with Okemo, Inc. Shortly after, Okemo chose to operate in N.H. as The Sunapee Difference. In 2008, Okemo/TSD sold the lease to CNL Lifestyle Properties (a Florida-based real estate investment trust). A management agreement (details undisclosed) kept Okemo/TSD directing daily operations.
The Mount Sunapee ski area lease is subject to “assignment or otherwise transfer” with prior State approval.
However, on June 7, 2017, the N.H. attorney general and the commissioner of the Department of Resources and Economic Development announced that Och-Ziff (Real Estate) now owns the ski area lease at Mount Sunapee. They said the deal was “structured in a manner to avoid triggering the assignment provision of the Lease.”
The Och-Ziff African bribery case, which was settled in the summer of 2016, provides important illustrations for understanding ethics in finance, especially in hedge fund management. The following is a description of the key parties, the financial instruments involved, the sequence of events, transactions, and ethical violations, followed by policy recommendations.
After bribery schemes in Africa led the U.S. government to fine the new operator of Mount Sunapee Resort $412 million last year — one of the biggest penalties ever issued under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — the New Hampshire attorney general wants to hold a public information meeting about plans for the resort.
06/08/2017 Sunapee’s new leaseholder fined millions in bribery case (Union Leader)
06/07/2017 State calls for public meeting amid concerns over Mount Sunapee ski lease (Concord Monitor)
06/01/2017 The FCPA Blog Former Och-Ziff middleman jailed two years (The FCPA Blog)
05/31/2017 Och-Ziff Judge Wants Everybody in Bribery to Be Accountable (Bloomberg.com)
05/22/2017 Och-Ziff: Wall Street’s fallen star (Crain’s New York Business)
Daniel Och’s hedge fund saw the steepest revenue drop—42%—of any publicly held New York company, thanks to a massive corruption scandal.
04/10/2017 EPR Properties & CNL Lifestyle announces transaction closure (Zacks.com)
04/08/2017 EPR Properties and CNL Lifestyle Properties Announce Closing Of Transaction, Includes Northstar Sale (Snow Industry News)
EPR Properties (the “Company”) and CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (“CNL Lifestyle”) today announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition by the Company of the Northstar California Ski Resort, 15 attraction properties (waterparks and amusement parks) and five small family entertainment centers for aggregate consideration valued at $455.5 million. Additionally, the Company provided $251.0 million of five-year secured debt financing to funds affiliated with Och-Ziff Real Estate (“OZRE”) for its purchase of 14 CNL Lifestyle ski properties valued at $374.5 million.
11/26/2016 Mt. Sunapee, Loon buyer paid $412m to settle criminal, civil bribery charges (NH Business Review)
Hedge fund bribed officials in several African nations, including Qaddafi’s son
11/03/2016 Crested Butte and 13 other ski areas sold to New York hedge-fund manager – DenverPost.com
11/03/2016 CNL unloads 15 ski resorts – FirstTracksOnLine.com
11/02/2016 EPR Properties: CNL Lifestyle Properties Portfolio Transaction
Download/view: epr-prop-cnl-portfolio-transaction-2016nov2 (pdf 3.3MB)
11/02/2016 CNL Lifestyle Properties, Frequently Asked Questions, Plan of Liquidation & Distribution, Purchase & Sale Agreement and Special Distribution
Download/view: cnl-liquidation-special-distribution-stockholder-qa-2016nov2 (pdf 127kb)
11/02/2016 CNL Lifestyle Properties, Stockholder Letter
Download/View: cnl-stockholder-letter-2016nov2 (pdf 109kb)
About Och-Ziff (lessee at Mount Sunapee)
09/26/2016 Och-Ziff’s Sprawling Africa Bribery Network Laid Out by U.S. (Bloomberg.com)
- Hedge fund billionaire turned blind eye to corruption risks
- Scheme sought to win deals from officials, including a Qaddafi
Those actions are part of a multiyear bribery conspiracy across Africa that benefited Och’s firm, Och-Ziff Capital Management LP, U.S. authorities said Thursday.
[box]See below for the breakdown of the $415 million: $213 million in criminal charges for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by Department of Justice and $200 million in civil charges for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by the Securities and Exchange Commission. [/box]
09/26/2016 Och-Ziff Capital Management Admits to Role in Africa Bribery Conspiracies and Agrees to Pay $213 Million Criminal Fine (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs)
Och-Ziff Enters into Three-Year Deferred Prosecution Agreement; Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
09/26/2016 Och-Ziff Hedge Fund Settles FCPA Charges (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Och-Ziff Capital Management Group has agreed to pay nearly $200 million to the SEC to settle civil charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
08/21/2014 The Hedge Fund and the Despot – Did a Wall Street titan’s money bail out Robert Mugabe in his hour of need? (Bloomberg.com)
Asked repeatedly when Och-Ziff first learned its money would fund the Zimbabwe platinum deal, a spokesman for the hedge fund firm declined to comment.