NASHVILLE (AP) — Gaylord Entertainment has issued separation notices to 310 employees pending shareholder approval of a deal to sell its hotel brand and the rights to manage its four hotels to Marriott International, Inc. for $210 million.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based company said in a statement Tuesday that about 40 percent of those employees will transition to Marriott employment and that the separations will be complete by Sept. 30.

Gaylord will still own the four hotels, but expects to save money by letting Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott manage them.

Gaylord said after the transition, it will employ about 4,000 workers in the Nashville area at the Gaylord Opryland mall, the adjacent Grand Ole Opry theater, the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, country radio station WSM-AM and the newly formed Real Estate Investment Trust.