NEWS IN BRIEF

Home Banc-Liberty deal gains approval

The Federal Reserve and the Arkansas State Bank Board approved Conway-based Home BancShares’ $280 million acquisition of Liberty Bancshares of Jonesboro, the Conway bank said Tuesday.

The shareholders of each bank holding company are expected to approve the purchase next month.

The purchase will make Centennial Bank, owned by Home BancShares, the second-largest bank in the state with about $7.1 billion in assets, behind Arvest Bank of Fayetteville, which has more than $14 billion in assets.

Liberty Bancshares’ shareholders, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Wallace Fowler, will receive $250 million in Home BancShares stock and $30 million in cash.

When the purchase is completed, Centennial Bank will have 92 locations in Arkansas, as well as branches in Florida and Alabama.

  • David Smith

Wal-Mart executives line up appearances

Some of Wal-Mart’s top brass will appear on stage this fall in front of thousands of people attending investor and retailing conferences.

The most notable is the retailer’s 20th annual investor conference, scheduled for Oct. 13 in Northwest Arkansas.

One week from today, Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart U.S., will be the featured speaker at the Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference in New York. Simon spoke at the event in 2010 and 2012.

On Sept. 12, John Boswell, senior vice president of marketing, member insights and e-commerce at Sam’s Club, will speak to members of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce’s Walstreet group.

  • Cyd King

Murphy USA recovers from slip; index up

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 1.29 to 280.93 Tuesday.

“Stocks gained little ground as news that the [Institute of Supply Management] manufacturing index unexpectedly increased but was tempered by fears of an imminent attack on Syria,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.

The big change among Arkansas firms was the addition of the spinoff of Murphy USA by parent Murphy Oil Corp. Murphy USA shares hit a low of $36.12 on Tuesday, but closed at $37.51, up 1.5 percent from Friday, Williams said.

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 25 on 09/04/2013

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