The owner of 60 per cent of the shares is Queenstown developer John Darby who was not available for comment.
Fletcher, who was a business partner of Darby in Queenstown's Jacks Point development, said it meant ''quite a bit'' to Wanaka to have a ''well capitalised and vibrant'' Treble Cone.
Over the past 10 years, the skifield had made small profits and losses which showed the ''core structural difficulty'' for a small, full-service ski operation, Mr Fletcher said.
''Any profit made is quickly absorbed in repairs and maintenance and some capital expenditure but it doesn't make enough profit to grow organically and buy a new lift, for instance.''
Mr Fletcher said the sale process began about a month ago when Cardrona made a formal approach to Treble Cone, which is an unlisted public company.
''We've negotiated as a board what we think is the best deal we could do with Cardrona,'' he said.
Once Cardrona confirmed due diligence, the offer would be put to shareholders at a special general meeting.
- Otago Daily Times