Black Bear Sports Group, a private equity investment group that has been purchasing established indoor ice facilities primarily in the Northeastern United States, announced Friday that an affiliate had acquired Aspen Ice Arena in Randolph, New Jersey.
Aspen Ice is the company’s third acquisition in New Jersey. Previous acquisitions in the area include:
- Jersey Shore Arena, a three-surface arena in Farmingdale, New Jersey, east of Trenton.
- Ice Land Skating Center, a two-surface arena in Hamilton, New Jersey, which is a town immediately adjacent to Trenton.
- Revolution Ice Gardens, a two-surface arena in Warwick, Pennsylvania, about 20 minutes west of Trenton.
Black Bear also owns two arena complexes in Maryland, four in Illinois, and one in the Pittsburgh area.
New Jersey is an area which is very attractive to Black Bear’s stated business model. There are still a number of individual arenas and small arena complexes that are owned individually, and appear to be in need of modernization.