Opry Up For Grabs?

The Grand Ole Opry House could soon be on the block, following a recent vote by Gaylord Entertainment Co. shareholders that left the venue and several hotel properties potentially up for grabs through a takeover.

Gaylord Entertainment Co. shares were trading at $33.81 at press time, but analysts told Bloomberg the company is undervalued and could bring in as much as $45 per share in a takeover.

“Gaylord has tremendous opportunities to grow,” BGB Securities analyst Sam Yake said. “Shareholders think that the stock’s worth a heck of a lot more than it’s currently trading at and I think that’s what they want to get at. Management knows they need to do something.”

And doing something may have included the vote to let a poison pill guarding against takeovers expire.

Gaylord CEO Colin Reed noted in a May 8 earnings call – just days before the vote – that “over the last 12 months, our stock price has traded substantially below its true value.”

He added the $1.65 billion company has been “looking at all options available to the company to unlock value. … Once we lay our plans out, I think it will make it much easier for investors to value our company.”

Bloomberg said the expiration of the poison pill in August could attract interest from Gaylord’s majority shareholder TRT Holdings, which owns Omni Hotels, a private-equity firm or Host Hotels & Resorts.

Plans are apparently in the works for Gaylord to build a resort and convention center in the Denver market.