NEWS IN BRIEF

Allens land deal omits 80 acres, SSS says

SSS of Crawford County LLC is seeking 80 acres of land it said were omitted from a deed documenting a purchase from Allens Inc.

Attorney Sean Brister, who represents SSS, said in a bankruptcy court filing that the land description was omitted from a deed because of a “mutual mistake.” SSS paid $1.1 million for what the filing describes as about 940 acres of row-crop farmland from Allens in September.

According to the filing, the entire acreage should have been included on the deed, and both parties failed to catch the mistake.

Because Allens filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, any decision regarding the land must go through bankruptcy court.

If Allens, a canned- and frozen-food manufacturer based in Siloam Springs, were not in bankruptcy, the matter could be handled outside court or heard in circuit court.

  • Chris Bahn

P.A.M. offers $20.50

a share for buyback

P.A.M. Transportation Services will offer $20.50 per share as part of a stock buyback program.

The Tontitown-based trucking firm plans to repurchase 675,000 shares.

P.A.M. announced the buyback plan Dec. 2 and is authorized to spend between $19 and $21 per share.

At the $20.50 purchase price, P.A.M. will spend approximately $13.83 million to repurchase 7.8 percent of its outstanding shares as of Nov. 29, 2013.

Approximately 758,864 shares were offered by stockholders for purchase, the company said. P.A.M.

will buy back about 88.9 percent of the stock available.

P.A.M. shares traded between $20.25 and $20.72 Tuesday, ending the day at $20.72.

  • Chris Bahn

Arkansas Index drops on last ’13 trading day

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.78 to 336.57 Tuesday.

“Stocks closed higher in the final trading day of 2013, reacting positively to better-than-expected housing and consumer confidence reports,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock. “Arkansas stocks lagged with only four issues advancing while 13 declined.”

Murphy Oil rose 1.2 percent on light volume, Williams said.

USA Truck fell more than 3.5 percent in active trading, Williams said.

For the second straight day, Simmons First National set a 52-week high, Williams said.

Volume for the index was 15.6 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 25 on 01/01/2014

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