NEWS OF NOTE: A Utah Billionaire’s Bold Push to Buy Park City Mountain Resort, Crewe Advisors’ Growth-Capital Deal, and Other Recent Money Signals Across Utah

This first edition of "NEWS OF NOTE," a new recurring Utah Money Watch feature, tracks recent Utah-related business, capital, real estate, institutional, workforce, life-sciences, energy, sports-monetization, and education news items we believe are worth having on the record.

Specifically, over 15 Utah-based entities and people are highlighted in this installment, while those featured include — Crewe Advisors, Enbridge, Hobble Creek Business Park, Matthew Prince (Utah's wealthiest person), Park City Mountain Resort, Scientia Vascular, Universal Technical Institute, the University of Utah, and Westminster University.

15 June 2026 - LEHI, Utah - Welcome to the inaugural edition of NEWS OF NOTE, a recurring feature of Utah Money Watch that begins today.

In a nutshell, many Utah-focused announcements are newsworthy, yet they may not warrant a deep-dive writeup in the digital pages of Utah Money Watch — news items with direct or implied financial / monetary import we suspect our readers may find beneficial.

That is the purpose of NEWS OF NOTE:

To aggregate into one place recent Utah-related items involving capital, acquisitions, public institutions, real estate, leadership moves, workforce development, tourism, life sciences, energy, and related money signals.

As such, the first eight NEWS OF NOTE items are found below.

David

1. Utah's Wealthiest Person Wants Vail Resorts to Sell Him Park City Mountain Resort

The biggest reader-facing story in this first NEWS OF NOTE comes from Park City, Utah, by way of Colorado.

As reported by The Colorado Sun, Matthew Prince, the Park City-raised co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, is pushing Vail Resorts to sell him Park City Mountain Resort.

Forbes reports that Prince has a net worth of over $7.3 billion (as of today), which (if accurate) would make him the state's wealthiest Utahn.

It also gives credence to Prince's claim he would invest $500 million into Park City Mountain Resort if Vail sold him the ski area, or allowed him to franchise it.

Obviously, Park City Mountain Resort is not just another ski hill; instead it's

🔹 One of Utah’s most visible tourism assets,

🔹 A central economic engine of Park City,

🔹 A global brand tied directly to Utah’s winter-sports identity, and

🔹 One of the most important operating assets in the state’s recreation economy.

According to The Colorado Sun, Prince is not trying to buy Vail Resorts.

Instead, he wants Vail to move toward what he describes as an "asset-light franchise model," one where the public company would not need to own 42 ski areas across three continents in order to keep selling its Epic Pass.

Vail, for its part, is not selling.

At least not today.

Still, when Utah’s wealthiest resident is openly pushing to buy one of the state’s trophy tourism assets, while promising hundreds of millions of dollars in reinvestment, that is more than mere ski-town gossip.

2. Crewe Advisors Takes Growth Capital from WPCG and HGGC

Salt Lake City-based, registered investment adviser (RIA), Crewe Advisors, has accepted a minority investment from Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC, while also entering into a strategic partnership with the two firms.

Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

According to the company’s announcement, Crewe Advisors had approximately $3.3 billion in assets under management as of 2 June 2026.

Post-investment, Crewe Advisors’ management team will remain majority shareholders and continue to lead the firm’s operations as Crewe Advisors is not being absorbed by a larger national firm.

Instead, the Utah RIA has taken on outside capital to support both acquisitions and organic growth initiatives.

3. The UofU Athletics Department Finalizes Private Deal with Otro Capital

The University of Utah and its foundation have finalized their partnership with Otro Capital to launch Crimson Brand Partners, the new commercial operating company tied to Utah Athletics and the broader university brand.

Previously introduced as Utah Brands & Entertainment, Crimson Brand Partners is the new name of the private equity–backed organization that will manage commercial operations across Utah Athletics and the broader university, including

🔺 Events at stadiums and arenas,

🔺 Branding,

🔺 Licensing and sponsorships,

🔺 Ticketing, and

🔺 Digital media.

Conversely, terms of the agreement mean that coaching, recruiting, scheduling, student-athlete support, private fundraising, and athletics facilities will remain with the university.

As noted during last week's press conference, the UofU did not disclose updated financial terms when it finalized the arrangement this week. And during the digital press conference, the moderator made clear that financial details would not be discussed.

However, based on the original framing of this deal (as reported by Utah Money Watch just over a year ago), I continue to view Crimson Brand Partners as a several-hundred-million-dollar athletics-commercialization platform.

Our guess: At least $250 million will exchange hands.

Will it? No idea.

When? Again, no idea.

That said, I will not be surprised if the monies are exchanged in tranches over time.

To be clear, however, this is the first ever PE-backed commercial operating platform in collegiate athletics, and that makes it a big deal,

✅  For the UofU and its fans,

✅  For all fans of college sports, and

✅  For the NCAA.

As such, this will be interesting to watch over the years ahead.

4. Medtronic has Completed its $550 Million Acquisition of Utah-based Scientia Vascular

As reported by Utah Money Watch, global MedTech leader, Medtronic, announced it in March 2026 that it was buying West Valley City, Utah-based Scientia Vascular for $550 million, a deal few Utahns saw coming.

As noted in the U$W writeup,

"'Scientia's portfolio of guidewires and catheters' are 'best-in-class access products' used by "physicians treating complex neurovascular conditions' (such as stroke, aneurysm, and various brain diseases)."

And now, Medtronic's acquisition of Scientia is done.

Just making sure you know.

5. Newport Buys Hobble Creek Business Park in a $96.8 Million Utah County Deal

Newport National has acquired Hobble Creek Business Park, a 31.6-acre, multi-building industrial park in Springville, Utah for $96.8 million.

The existing first phase includes roughly 260,000 square feet of industrial space across three buildings and is 98% leased.

The financial details for this news come from Commercial Property Executive, which reported that Thrive Development sold the three-building campus for $96.8 million, citing Yardi Matrix information. {NOTE: CPE also reported that loans tied to the existing buildings totaled $67.8 million.}

As noted in its news release, Newport plans to begin construction later this summer on two additional buildings totaling roughly 140,000 square feet, with another 90,000 square feet planned within the next 24 months.

At full buildout, Hobble Creek Business Park is expected to reach approximately 500,000 square feet across six buildings.

6. Westminster University Pushes Back After Forbes Gives it a "D" Financial Grade

Westminster University, the 150-year-old liberal arts university bordered on the east by 1300 East in Salt Lake City, is now part of the national conversation about financial pressure facing smaller private universities.

That conversation was sparked by Forbes’ 2026 College Financial Grades, a report which assesses the operational health and balance-sheet strength of private nonprofit colleges.

Forbes’ national list and related methodology ranked hundreds of private colleges, with Westminster receiving a D grade.

That Forbes writeup was then reported on by the Salt Lake Tribune in a June 3 article focused on Westminster’s financial position.

Westminster then pushed back directly (as noted in a letter published online on June 3 by the University over the signature of its, President Beth Dobkin, Ph.D.).

In the letter, President Dobkin acknowledged that like other small private institutions, Westminster has faced (financial) pressure, but (she writes) its position is stronger than the headline suggested.

She claims that Westminster has "... managed its finances through diverse revenue streams, including philanthropy and cost efficiencies, without accumulating sizeable debt ...".

She also writes that

"The FY 2027 budget, reviewed and approved by our Board of Trustees last month, projects an operating surplus in the coming year."

Me?

Generally, I'm a fan of Westminster, so I hope President Dobkin is correct and Forbes is incorrect.

7. Enbridge Names Brendenholler-Prasad its New Regional President

Enbridge Gas has named Heidi Bredenholler-Prasad as President of its three-state regional gas business that covers Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho, effective 7 June 2026.

Bredenholler-Prasad brings nearly three decades of global energy-sector experience to her new position, including work across Canada, Europe, and the United States. She has also been with Enbridge for over 19 years.

According to the news release Enbridge shared with me, Brendenholler-Prasad's background includes infrastructure development, project development and management, commercial strategy, business development, and work with large industrial and commercial customers.

Enbridge Gas serves more than 1.2 million customers across Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho, with more than 1,100 employees in the region.

8. UTI Names Balderee President for New West Jordan Skilled-Trades Campus

Universal Technical Institute has named John Balderree as Campus President of its new Salt Lake City-area campus, scheduled to open in 2027 in West Jordan, Utah.

Balderee joins UTI from BYU-Pathway Worldwide, where (most recently) he led Student Technology Access.

The new UTI campus is expected to occupy over 110,000 square feet at River Point Plaza in West Jordan.

The campus will have capacity to serve more than 3,000 students, and (pending regulatory approvals) will offer programs in

▪️ Aviation maintenance technology,

▪️ Automotive and diesel,

▪️ Electrical and industrial maintenance technology,

▪️ Electrical, electronics and industrial technology,

▪️ Electrical,

▪️ Robotics and automation,

▪️ HVACR, and

▪️ Welding.

Author's Note

These are the first eight items I felt important enough to include in this inaugural edition of NEWS OF NOTE.

If you feel there's business news worth covering at Utah Money Watch, please drop me a note: David.Politis@UtahMoneyWatch.com.

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