Opry Entertainment Group Acquires Majority Interest in Southern Entertainment to Expand Live Events Portfolio

Opry Entertainment Group acquires majority stake in Southern Entertainment to enhance festival offerings and artist experiences.

Quiver AI Summary

Opry Entertainment Group (OEG), a subsidiary of Ryman Hospitality Properties, has acquired a majority interest in Southern Entertainment, a live events and production company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Southern Entertainment is known for organizing popular music festivals such as Carolina Country Music Fest and the upcoming Field & Stream Music Fest. OEG CEO Patrick Moore highlighted the company's strong growth over the past decade and expressed enthusiasm for entering a dynamic sector of live events with experienced partners. Southern Entertainment founders Bob Durkin and Rob Pedlow will continue to lead the company, which will benefit from OEG's resources and artist development programs. This partnership aims to enhance existing festivals and create new artist-centered experiences, further connecting fans with artists. Ryman expects to report Southern Entertainment's results alongside its other entertainment operations.

Potential Positives

• Opry Entertainment Group expands its portfolio by acquiring a majority interest in Southern Entertainment, enhancing its presence in the growing live events sector.
• The acquisition allows OEG to leverage Southern Entertainment's established music festival portfolio, which includes notable events like Carolina Country Music Fest and Barefoot Country Music Fest.
• OEG aims to integrate its artist development programs into Southern Entertainment's festivals, fostering opportunities for emerging country artists and deepening its commitment to the music community.

Potential Negatives

• Acquiring Southern Entertainment could strain OEG's resources and management focus, as entering a new market segment requires significant investment and operational adjustment.
• The forward-looking statements in the release highlight potential financial uncertainties, suggesting vulnerabilities to economic conditions and inflation that could negatively impact future performance.
• Ryman's reliance on Southern Entertainment's performance may expose it to greater risks, especially if Southern's events fail to attract audiences or generate expected revenues.

FAQ

What is Opry Entertainment Group's recent acquisition?

Opry Entertainment Group has acquired a majority interest in Southern Entertainment, a live events and production company based in Charlotte, N.C.

What festivals are included in Southern Entertainment's portfolio?

Southern Entertainment promotes festivals like Carolina Country Music Fest, Barefoot Country Music Fest, and the upcoming Field & Stream Music Fest.

How will this acquisition benefit Southern Entertainment's festivals?

This partnership will enhance Southern Entertainment's events and allow for expansion into new markets with OEG's resources and expertise.

Who are the founders of Southern Entertainment?

Southern Entertainment was co-founded in 2015 by Bob Durkin and Rob Pedlow, who will continue to lead the company following the acquisition.

What is the goal of OEG in acquiring Southern Entertainment?

OEG aims to deepen its commitment to artists by expanding artist-centered experiences at Southern Entertainment’s country music festivals.

Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.

$RHP Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $RHP stock 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 1 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $RHP stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

• REPRESENTATIVE JOSH GOTTHEIMER sold up to $15,000 on 09/09.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard.

$RHP Insider Trading Activity

$RHP insiders have traded $RHP stock on the open market 4 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 2 have been purchases and 2 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $RHP stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

• FAZAL F MERCHANT sold 1,269 shares.
• COLIN V REED (Exec. Chairman of the Board) has traded it 2 times. They made 2 purchases, buying 14,886 shares and 0 sales.
• ALVIN L JR BOWLES sold 900 shares.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$RHP Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 166 institutional investors add shares of $RHP stock to their portfolio, and 157 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

• PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL GROUP INC added 931,283 shares (+41.9%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024
• FMR LLC removed 775,597 shares (-27.3%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024
• T. ROWE PRICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC. added 642,631 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024
• PGGM INVESTMENTS added 473,895 shares (+630.0%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024
• BALYASNY ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. removed 389,302 shares (-63.6%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024
• MASSACHUSETTS FINANCIAL SERVICES CO /MA/ removed 370,580 shares (-30.9%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024
• DEUTSCHE BANK AG\ removed 301,002 shares (-26.8%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

Full Release

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Opry Entertainment Group (“OEG”), a subsidiary of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) (“Ryman”), announced that it has acquired a majority interest in Southern Entertainment, a live events, hospitality, and production company based in Charlotte, N.C. Southern Entertainment’s portfolio of owned or promoted music festivals includes Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Barefoot Country Music Fest in Wildwood, New Jersey; Lovin’ Life Music Fest in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Greenville Country Music Fest in Greenville, South Carolina; and the upcoming Field & Stream Music Fest in Winnsboro, South Carolina, launching in 2025.

Patrick Moore, Chief Executive Officer of Opry Entertainment Group, said, “In just 10 years, the Southern Entertainment team has grown their business into one of the strongest independent festival businesses in the United States. With this investment, we are entering a dynamic and growing sector of the events business with seasoned operators who share our passion for creating unforgettable experiences for artists and fans. This investment will allow us to expand our reach to a large and loyal fan base that is complementary to our current audience.”

Bob Durkin and Rob Pedlow co-founded Southern Entertainment in 2015 and will continue to lead the business.

“Joining forces with OEG will add immediate value to our existing events and allow us to accelerate our plans to bring festivals to new markets,” said Durkin and Pedlow. “We are confident our fans, the artists who play our stages and the cities where we operate will benefit from our alliance with such an iconic name in country music.”

Southern Entertainment will integrate OEG’s artist development programs in their flagship country music festivals where many Opry members and Opry NextStage artists have performed in recent years. The teams also plan to develop additional artist-centered experiences in the years ahead.

Moore continued, “We view festivals as a tremendous opportunity to deepen our commitment to artists at all phases of their careers, and we especially look forward to joining forces with Southern Entertainment to bring even more of the up-and-coming artists who play our stages to their large-scale events.”

A note to Ryman Hospitality Properties Shareholders

Ryman expects to report Southern Entertainment’s results on a consolidated basis within the Entertainment segment. Additional details are available here:

https://ir.rymanhp.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations

.

About Opry Entertainment Group

Rooted in the unparalleled country music history of the Grand Ole Opry, Opry Entertainment Group produces multi-platform entertainment experiences through its growing portfolio of entertainment venues, including the world-famous Grand Ole Opry, the iconic Ryman Auditorium, WSM Radio, the Blake Shelton-inspired Ole Red brand, ACL Live, and Category 10, the Luke Combs-inspired new multi-experiential live music venue, bar and restaurant in downtown Nashville. Through concerts, tours, music-inspired restaurants, retail, publishing, digital content, and more, Opry Entertainment Group connects millions of music fans to the artists they love through experiences they’ll never forget. Opry Entertainment Group is a subsidiary of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP).

About Southern Entertainment

Southern Entertainment is a full-service events and production company with an unwavering commitment to excellence, having produced over 200 events across the United States.

About Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.

Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) is a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust that specializes in upscale convention center resorts and entertainment experiences. Ryman’s hotel portfolio is managed by Marriott International and includes a combined total of 11,414 rooms as well as more than 3 million square feet of total indoor and outdoor meeting space in top convention and leisure destinations across the country. Ryman also owns a 70% controlling ownership interest in OEG. Ryman operates OEG as its Entertainment segment in a taxable REIT subsidiary, and its results are consolidated in Ryman’s financial results.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements as to Ryman’s beliefs and expectations of the outcome of future events that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of Ryman’s businesses, anticipated business levels and anticipated financial results for Ryman during future periods, Ryman’s expected cash dividend, and other business or operational issues. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These include the risks and uncertainties associated with economic conditions affecting the entertainment business generally, the effects of inflation on Ryman’s business, including the effects on costs of labor and supplies and effects on customers in OEG’s businesses, and changes in interest rates. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in the filings made from time to time by Ryman with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and include the risk factors and other risks and uncertainties described in Ryman’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and subsequent filings. Ryman does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements made by it to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.