Exclusive Resorts makes $39M bid for Inspirato, both founded by Denver’s Handler brothers

A firm founded by Brad and Brent Handler has made an unsolicited takeover bid for another firm founded by Brad and Brent Handler And the Handlers who no longer control either company aid the deal Particular Resorts which the local brothers started alongside Shark Tank alum Tom Filippini in submitted a million offer last week for Inspirato the luxury movement company the two launched in Both companies are based in Denver The Handlers sold their stake in Particular Resorts a similar members-only vacation club in to AOL co-founder Steve Scenario who is still the private company s majority shareholder The two left the company along with Filippini in and have no ownership in Particular Resorts they communicated BusinessDen But despite a contentious departure from Inspirato the Handlers are still sizable shareholders in the company which went populace in under their watch Brad owns of the company and Brent owns according to SEC filings Inspirato is led by CEO Payam Zamani who came on last August and owns of the company Both Handler brothers left the company s board around that same time This summer Inspirato informed it intended to combine with Buyerlink a private digital marketing firm that Zamani wholly owns Particular Resorts offer arrived just weeks before a scheduled Sept shareholder vote on the Buyerlink deal If the deal closes Zamani s stake in the entity which would commerce under the name One Planet Platforms will jump to according to Inspirato Inspirato disclosed a special committee of independent directors and the company s board of directors are reviewing the Unique Resorts offer Inspirato Chief Financial Officer Michael Arthur noted Inspirato s board has recommended shareholders approve the Buyerlink deal The board s recommendation until it s not is to move forward with the Buyerlink deal Arthur explained BusinessDen Incident the Specific Resorts owner also has about an stake in Inspirato His nearly million shares are split between three holding companies indirectly tied to him filings show Circumstance also sat on Inspirato s board for a time as a conclusion of a deal that brought together one of his companies Portico with Inspirato The Handler brothers are involved in a legal spat with Inspirato They alleged the company has improperly withheld a perk that gives them free Inspirato vacations for life A trial is at the moment scheduled for the spring In the meantime the brothers advocacy the Specific Resorts offer which would see the company buy Inspirato at a share At the end of trading Wednesday shares closed at In an SEC filing the brothers announced they have critical concerns about the process Inspirato went through in pursuing the Buyerlink deal The submission came after Clint Coghill who owns about of Inspirato urged Inspirato s board to accept the Sole Resort s offer during a Sept presentation In a page slide deck Coghill announced the Buyerlink deal reeks of self-dealing and that Zamani is enriching himself at the expense of Inspirato s minority stockholders Coghill also claimed in his SEC filing that Zamani had specific choice words for minority shareholders during the Sept meeting I don t give a s about the minority stockholders The minority stockholders don t matter Zamani commented during that meeting according to Coghill Zamani stated BusinessDen Wednesday he did not say that Those who know me know that I don t cuss I never do Zamani explained So that is categorically a false report I care about all shareholders Related Articles Federal appeals court allows Vail to ban UPS FedEx trucks from pedestrian malls Noble Riot wine bar closes after six years in RiNo Denver City Council to vote on multimillion-dollar Rock Drill mixed-use project in RiNo Smashburger closed Lowry location due to sewer odors landlord says Australian meat and cheese importer Ausfine to launch its U S division in Denver s Republic Plaza Coghill who did not respond to requests for comment also claimed that Zamani s position as Inspirato s chairman and CEO is in direct conflict with his ownership of Buyerlink He declared that led to an inflated million valuation for Zamani s firm and that a lack of liquidity and the threat of artificial intelligence make the firm less valuable than Inspirato s special committee believes Zamani who mentioned he was speaking to BusinessDen in a personal limit as an Inspirato shareholder did not wade into specifics I ve tried to stay above this kind of behavior But I would recommend anyone who hears the claims from this guy to just look at the company s filings They re publicly available so there s no guesswork that demands to take place he announced If someone is concerned about my reputation and what I stand for you can search me he continued I m an open book Read more from our partner BusinessDen