A group of local investors is planning to acquire a controlling interest in Killington — the largest ski resort in Eastern North America — and neighboring Pico Mountain from the Utah-based Powdr Corp.

Killington homeowners Phill Gross, co-founder of Boston’s Adage Capital Management and a member of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s investment committee, and Michael Ferri, a Killington Mountain School trustee and partner in his family’s Valvoline Instant Oil Change franchises, confirmed the news Thursday.

“For our families, Killington is more than just a business or asset to own; it is our home,” the two said in a statement. “This landmark purchase represents a commitment to keeping Killington and Pico in the hands of those who know and love it, with plans to increase capital investment while preserving the mountains’ unique character and community.”

Although neither side is disclosing a purchase price, Powdr said it would retain a minority stake at Killington and Pico and have a seat on the board of directors.

At the same time, Powdr announced hopes to sell three more of its 10 North American ski resorts to focus on four-season “outdoor and action-sports experiences,” including indoor facilities with tracks and trampolines.

“By balancing the seasonality of our traditional ski resorts with year-round attractions,” Powdr CEO Justin Sibley told the Storm Skiing Journal, “we’re building a more resilient and dynamic company.” 

Both sides expect to close on the sale of the Rutland County resorts sometime this fall.

“Guests can expect daily operations to be business as usual,” they said in a statement.

Killington and Pico will retain current management and support staff and remain two of the more than 50 areas on the Ikon Pass system, officials said.

The acquisition won’t affect plans for Killington to host the women’s World Cup ski racing circuit this coming Thanksgiving weekend, as it has since 2016.

And real estate developers at Great Gulf of Canada will keep designing a new 450-acre commercial and condominium village for the base of Killington as part of a larger plan to bring up to 2,300 housing units and $3 billion in capital investment to the area in the next 25 years.

“That partnership is continuing,” Killington spokesperson Amy Laramie confirmed of the village.

The resort’s history dates back to 1954, when Preston Smith, then a visiting twentysomething honeymooner, decided to develop Killington Peak, Vermont’s second highest summit, into a ski area.

“Here, in 1763, legend says the Rev. Samuel Peters christened the entire Green Mountain section ‘Verd Mont,’” the Rutland Herald reported in its 1950s story on the plan.

Installing trails, lifts and snowmaking, Smith spent his life building up the property before selling it in 1996 to the American Skiing Company, which soon bought neighboring Pico — founded in 1937 by the parents of 1952 two-time Olympic gold medalist Andrea Mead Lawrence.

Powdr Corp. purchased both areas in 2007.

In the most recent attempt to boost development, local, regional and state economic leaders have created a tax increment financing (TIF) district that received town voter approval last year. A resulting “Killington Forward” package is funding more than $60 million in public road and water infrastructure improvements through grants, forgivable loans and tax increment financing.

Crews have spent the spring and summer reconstructing the main access Killington Road artery, starting at its intersection with Route 4. Contractors also have begun a multiyear public water project to install two wells, a 750,000-gallon storage tank and pipelines for the village and other businesses along Killington Road that have found PFAS chemicals in their drinking supplies.

In addition, Great Gulf and the Killington Resort have pledged $700,000 to buy a 70-acre plot on the mountain for up to 300 affordable workforce housing units in a cluster of apartment buildings and single and duplex homes.

Mike Solimano, Killington president and general manager, said the acquisition would support all the plans.

“We believe that local ownership will allow us to be even more responsive to the needs and desires of our community and guests,” Solimano said in a statement.

Initial public response on social media has been positive. Industry insiders, for their part, have noted the news “raises questions about the long-term viability of the multi-mountain business model,” according to the Storm Skiing Journal.

“In Vermont,” the online publication continued, “the shift to local ownership for Killington and Pico will mean a subtle but potentially potent identity change as the resort asserts itself as a we-don’t-need-nobody counter-lever to New England’s ever-consolidating ski industry.”