2 firms to represent creditors of Allens
Cooley LLP of New York and Eichenbaum Liles P.A. of Little Rock have been authorized as legal counsel for the official committee of unsecured creditors in the Allens Inc. bankruptcy case.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ben Barry authorized the firms to act as legal representation in a pair of orders filed Friday.
Also on Friday, attorneys for Allens filed an objection to 10 reclamation claims made by creditors. The claims ranged from $1,116 to $1.5 million.
Allens, the canned and frozen foods manufacturer based in Siloam Springs, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October. Court filings show the company owes $114.36 million to primary lenders and $65.6 million to its secondary lenders.
Seneca Foods of New York has offered $148 million to purchase Allens. A hearing to set bidding procedures is scheduled for Jan. 6.
- Chris Bahn
Florida robo-caller draws $90,000 fine
Associated Accounting Specialists Inc. of Port St. Lucie, Fla., one of five companies sued last year by Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel, has been ordered to pay $90,000 in penalties for violations of state and federal telemarketing laws.
McDaniel sued the company for deceptively advertising interest-rate reductions on consumer credit cards.
U.S. District Judge Brian S.
Miller issued a default judgment against Associated Accounting Specialists and its owner, Jason Page. McDaniel’s office announced the fines Friday.
The company and Page are prohibited from placing unsolicited calls to consumers in the United States. The judgment covers robo-calls and live calls and prevents the defendants from “owning, operating or managing any business that purports to offer credit-card interest rate reductions or debt relief services.”
Miller ordered the company, accused of making multiple calls to phone numbers on the federal “Do Not Call” list, to pay $4,500 in attorneys’ fees and $998 in restitution.
- Chris Bahn
Arkansas Index rises
0.27 to end 337.90
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 0.27 to 337.90 Friday.
Nine stocks rose and six fell Friday. Acxiom Corp. and Murphy USA Inc. were unchanged. Windstream Holdings Inc. saw the biggest decline, dropping 3.44 percent to $8.13. Home Bancshares, Inc., fell 1.6 percent to $38.13.
Shares of America’s Car-Mart Inc. rose 1.48 percent, or 62 cents, to $42.40.
For the week, America’s Car-Mart rose 3.6 percent, and Deltic Timber Corp.
rose 3.1 percent to $68.99.
Acxiom saw the biggest decline, falling 3 percent to $36.77. Average daily volume for the index was 19 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 31 on 12/28/2013