OPUBCO to be sold

For over 108 years the Gaylord and Dickinson families have controlled The Oklahoma Publishing Company, locally known as OPUBCO. According to Christy Everest, Chairman and CEO of OPUBCO, that will change in early October when all of the stock of OPUBCO will be sold to The Anschutz Corporation, owned by Denver-based businessman Philip Anschutz.

The Anschutz Corporation will be acquiring all the assets which OPUBCO owns or has an interest in, including: The Oklahoman, NewsOK.com, the corporate headquarters building, the printing facilities and all associated real estate; Pavestone LLC, headquartered in Dallas, a leading manufacturer of concrete pavers, retaining walls, and other landscaping materials with manufacturing plants in 18 cities; De Wafelbakkers LLC, a fast growing breakfast food company based in Little Rock, with manufacturing plants in Arkansas and Georgia; The Broadmoor Hotel, a 5-star, 5-diamond 744-room resort in Colorado Springs, set at the foot of the Rocky Mountains featuring championship golf, world class spa and a full service tennis program; Manitou & Pike’s Peak Railway Company, the world’s highest railway that travels to the top of Pike’s Peak; the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, a 500-room resort hotel, spa and 18-hole golf course located east of Austin along the Colorado River; numerous other real estate holdings in Oklahoma and Colorado; water rights underlying the Greenland Ranch in Douglas County, Colorado consisting of 1.5 million acre feet of subsurface water; an aviation company in Oklahoma City; a 100 piece collection of artwork by the Western Masters; and an interest in Suddenlink Communications, the nation’s seventh largest cable broadband company serving approximately 1.4 million residential customers and thousands of commercial customers in the southwest region of the country, among other items.

“Mr. Anschutz approached us with a unique offer in early June. Our Board of Directors had to consider his proposal seriously and from several different perspectives – that of our 254 supportive and patient shareholders, our thousands of employees, the communities in which we operate, the legacies of the Gaylord and Dickinson families, and the general wellbeing of OPUBCO itself. This transaction will not cause OPUBCO to disappear - rather, only the ownership will change. There are amazing similarities between the interests and conservative values of The Anschutz Corporation and those of OPUBCO,” said Mrs. Everest. “Mr. Anschutz’s stewardship of OPUBCO’s properties will carry the company’s 108 year history well into the future. His roots lie in ranching and oil and gas exploration, and his holdings have expanded into publishing and hotel properties. His interests are remarkably consistent with the interests developed by our family over the last three generations, right down to his love of the West and western values.”

Mr. Anschutz, originally from Russell, Kansas, is a graduate of the University of Kansas. Today, his diversified company has worldwide investments in oil and gas exploration and development, wind energy and electric transmission, real estate, ranching and agriculture, lodging and hospitality, transportation and telecommunications, newspaper and internet publishing, and entertainment including sports, film production, and movie theaters.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mr.

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