Gaylord Buys Back Shares from TRT Holdings

Courtesy of Entos Design

One of the biggest critics of Gaylord Entertainment’s plans to convert to a real estate trust is dropping its objections, but TRT Holdings is also giving up most of its stake in the company.

TRT is Gaylord’s largest shareholder, owning almost 22 percent of its stock. The company wasn’t a fan of Gaylord’s proposal to convert to a real estate investment trust and let Marriott take over the day-to-day operations of its hotels.

TRT President Robert Rowlingcalled the deal ‘biased’ and ‘poorly negotiated.’ He said he would vote against it at the company’s shareholder meeting in September. Now Rowling seems to have had a change of heart. Colin Reed is Gaylord’s CEO.

Under the terms of the re-purchase agreement, the company re-purchased five million shares of its common stock from TRT holdings at a price of 37 dollars per share

That means TRT will receive $185 million for its stock. While they’ll still have a small stake in Gaylord, TRT Holdings has agreed not to interfere with the company’s conversion to a real estate trust.