In announcing the purchase from Australian-based Vealls Ltd, which has owned and operated the skifield since 1990, Real Journeys chairman Ian Fitzgerald said the company's intention was to diversify and expand its business.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times after the announcement, Real Journeys chief executive Richard Lauder said the company would take time to familiarise itself with the skifield operation before implementing any changes.
He declined to reveal the purchase price of the skifield, which was valued at $35.5 million in Vealls' annual financial report for the year ending June 30.
''We bought Cardrona for the asset that it currently is. It's a great skifield and well liked and I think we'll be careful and considered with respect to any changes that we make there,'' Mr Lauder said.
Cardrona skifield would be run as a separate entity, but there would be good opportunities, particularly for seasonal staff, to shift between the organisations and get longer-term work, he said.
Negotiations for the skifield sale started in May this year, when Real Journeys was named by Vealls as the preferred bidder.
Due diligence and shareholder approval was required from both boards to complete the sale.
Mr Lauder said the due diligence process had changed part- way through the negotiations.
''Originally it was going to be a binding bid for transfer of the skifield just before the [2013] season.''
''But the vendor changed their mind on that and so ... we've worked through the issues that come up as they always do in these sort of transactions and then ... it was sort of pragmatism to wait until the end of the season because it was going to be quite frankly a bit ridiculous to take on 450 [skifield] staff for a month.''
Boundary issues also complicated the process, after due diligence revealed part of the skifield was on neighbouring farmland.
''We did survey the land and there's no denying that a small portion of the trails at the top of the skifield do impinge on Glencoe Station, but that's something we're going to resolve over summer.''
While the sale process had been ''a long road'', Real Journeys was ''truly excited about this acquisition'', Mr Lauder said.
''Cardrona is a fantastic brand and is undoubtedly one of the best skifields in New Zealand. It's only fitting that it has a proud and local Kiwi owner.''
An announcement by Vealls Ltd on the Australian Stock Exchange said the effects of the transaction on the company's financial position would ''be positive in respect to the carrying value of its assets and its earnings for the year ending 30 June, 2014, all other things being equal''.
Vealls Ltd's total revenue for the year ending June 30, 2013, was $NZ16.5 million, most of which was derived from its New Zealand operations, ''in particular from Cardrona Alpine Resort, that operated under favourable conditions''.
Real Journeys:
• Family-owned South Island business started in 1954 by tourism and conservation pioneers Les and Olive Hutchins
• Operates the 101-year-old steamship TSS Earnslaw and Walter Peak High Country Farm near Queenstown, Milford and Doubtful Sounds cruises, the Te Anau glow-worm caves, day walks on the Milford Track and Stewart Island ferry and tour services
• Also has stakes in Black Cat Cruises, Queenstown Rafting and Milford Sound Flights
• Rebranded in 2002 from Fiordland Travel Ltd to Real Journeys Ltd
• Hutchins family members still heavily represented on its share register
• The company's registered office is in Te Anau
