Looks like MCP will not be able to purchase El Colorado due to Chilean government regulators. Seems short-sighted.
The proposed acquisition of Andacor—owner of El Colorado, Farellones, Pillán, and Volcán Osorno—by Mountain Capital Partners (MCP), which already owns Valle Nevado and La Parva, collapsed primarily over competition concerns. Chile’s competition regulator, the FNE, feared the deal would give MCP overwhelming control of the Santiago ski market, potentially leading to higher prices, reduced competition, and poorer service, and reportedly sought major structural remedies such as divesting one of the Tres Valles resorts. MCP and Andacor instead proposed investment commitments and consumer benefits, but ultimately withdrew when acceptable terms could not be reached. The failure preserves competition between MCP’s Valle Nevado–La Parva and Andacor’s El Colorado–Farellones, but it also derails the opportunity for unified ownership, coordinated lift investment, better interconnections, and new terrain development that could have transformed Tres Valles into a more seamlessly integrated mega-resort.
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Ski resort merger ends: Mountain Capital Partners and Andacor reject integration after FNE demands. MCP owns the Valle Nevado and La Parva ski resorts and was seeking to acquire Andacor, which owns El Colorado and Farellones. However, both companies abandoned the merger due to demands from the National Economic Prosecutor's Office, which, according to the companies, made a joint operation plan for the valleys impossible.
By
Paulina Ortega July 20, 2026
The Colorado
The takeover agreement for Andacor by the US group Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) was in the second phase of its review process for approval by the National Economic Prosecutor's Office (FNE). However,
the companies announced that they have withdrawn from the transaction .
MCP owns the Valle Nevado and La Parva ski resorts in the Metropolitan Region (RM), while Andacor controls El Colorado and Farellones. These are four of the five most important mountain resorts in the RM. The National Economic Prosecutor's Office (FNE) had expressed its concerns because, in some market segments, the new company could concentrate up to 97% of the market share.
“The FNE did not accept a series of investments and commercial benefits offered by MCP and Cururo (Andacor's parent company) as mitigation measures. On the contrary, to approve the transaction, the FNE considered that structural measures were required that
would have involved selling one of the Three Valleys resorts to a third party. Naturally, such measures are incompatible with MCP's investment objectives and the parties' goal of creating one of the world's largest and most accessible mountain destinations,” the companies explained.
The FNE identified possible risks such as price increases, a possible decrease in the quality of services and/or a deterioration of other competitive variables, as a consequence of the possible quasi-
monopolization of the market for ski service tickets at the local level , which would cover the RM and its surrounding areas.
MCP and Andacor presented a series of mitigation measures, such as free access for children under 12 and adults over 75 for a minimum of five seasons, and also promised significant infrastructure investments with $11.3 billion in the three valleys, and another $600 million in Volcán Osorno and Pillán (Andacor's other two centers).
According to details provided by the FNE, the companies submitted mitigation measures three times on different dates between December 2025 and July 2026. On July 15, the agency met with the parties to inform them, "based on the background information gathered up to that date, of the risks that the materialization of the operation could produce for free competition, since even subject to the proposed mitigation measures, it had the capacity to substantially reduce competition," said the FNE.
According to sources close to the matter, the prosecution made divestment a condition, so two days after the meeting, the parties formally informed the entity of their withdrawal.
In an internal letter distributed to Andacor employees, the firm stated that this “does not represent changes in the way we have been operating until now nor in our structure, that is, as a main player in the management of mountain centers in Chile.”
“In the immediate future, our focus remains on winter operations and the upcoming full opening of our services at our Mountain Centers,” stated the letter signed by Andacor's general manager, José Ignacio Morales.
The union of the valleys
In the FNE report explaining its decision to
extend the investigation period , it stated that both companies are seeking to integrate and jointly operate El Colorado, La Parva and Valle Nevado, to create an “extra-large” center.
This “would significantly expand the skiable area and allow the development of the
Quebrada Honda area, one of the best sectors in terms of snow quality and slope in the Three Valleys, by installing a new ski lift in its lower part, which would allow the incorporation of an additional 177 hectares of skiable area and facilitate direct access through new parking lots,” reads the FNE text.
The mitigation measures that the FNE established as necessary to approve the operation would have meant abandoning that plan, which was key to MCP's investment decision.
“Our commitment to the development of mountain tourism in Chile, and to the vision that has inspired this initiative, remains fully in place. We are convinced that integration would have represented the best alternative for local consumers, for the national economy, and for the sustainability of the ski resorts,” stated the joint declaration from MCP and Cururo.
“Nevertheless, we will continue working on the development of our mountain resorts and promoting initiatives that contribute to the ski industry, so that Chile can fully capitalize on one of its greatest tourism assets. We remain convinced of our vision: our mountain range presents a historic opportunity for national tourism and for us to be leaders in the development of mountain sports in the Southern Hemisphere,” they concluded.
The reorganization of Andacor
MCP's acquisition of a stake in Andacor was part of the firm's plan to improve its financial position, following complications arising from the pandemic and the drought that the RM faced a few years ago.
The
reorganization plan focused on three key elements. First, a payment plan for all creditors, with varying terms depending on the creditor type—secured or unsecured. Second, a real possibility of extraordinary debt repayments through the potential sale of certain company assets. Third,
a $6 billion capital increase, which would bring in a third party as a shareholder and grant them control of the company. These funds would be sufficient to cover the financial obligations resulting from previous snow seasons, which severely impacted the firm's operations.
In the search for a strategic partner, Mountain Capital Partners appeared, headed by Texan James Coleman and his partners Scott Price and Kuzi Mutsiwegota.
They own 12 resorts in the US and were looking to replicate the same model in Chile. They wanted to unite El Colorado, La Parva, and Valle Nevado into a single, "extra-large" ski resort.
The deadline for the $6 billion capital increase was July 31. Andacor had already considered requesting an extension, as they estimated they would not be able to meet the deadline even without it. This Monday, Andacor's general manager and the receiver, Patricio Jamarne, will evaluate the next steps in the restructuring plan. They could continue searching for a strategic partner, but Andacor indicates that other options exist. They will meet with the creditors' committee this Thursday.
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