Dasen sells shares of Winter Sports stock

The newest board member of Winter Sports Inc. has also become a major shareholder in the company, which owns the Big Mountain resort in Whitefish.

William P. Foley II, who is taking the board seat given up by Tim Grattan, recently bought 27 percent of Big Mountain's shares from Budget Finance, a company owned in part by Dick Dasen.

Dasen, a Kalispell businessman who is awaiting trial for charges related to prostitution, was at one time Winter Sport's largest stock holder. Information on who currently holds the most shares was not available at press time. Budget Finance is a subsidiary of the Dasen Corp.

Foley bought the shares about two weeks ago, said Jami Phillips, the chief financial officer of Winter Sports. He said that although Foley's shares make him a major owner of the company, the sale doesn't mean the mountain will see a power shift among its nine board members because each person has only one vote.

"In that respect, (the sale) doesn't change anything," Phillips said.

Phillips doesn't know what direction Foley sees for the resort or what he hopes to accomplish with his seat but she thinks his nomination is good for the company.

"He's a very successful businessman," she said. "He's got a different breadth of knowledge than we have on the board right now."

Big Mountain anticipates Foley will be in Whitefish in early December for a meeting.

Winter Sports had for a time been a publicly owned company, but it went private again in May. The stock at that time was worth $16.50 per share. The company bought out the public shares for $17.50. Phillips did not release information on how much Foley paid for Dasen's shares. People who sell private stock set the price for such sales, whereas public sales are driven by the market value, she said.

Foley owns a home on Whitefish Lake and is the proprietor of the Corner House Grill in Whitefish. He is the chairman and CEO of Fidelity National Financial Inc., which provides services and products to the financial and real estate industries. The company is ranked No. 262 among Fortune 500 businesses.

Foley could not be reached for comment by press time.