News in brief

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Buyer shifts Allens name to Sager Creek

Sager Creek Vegetable Co. is the new name for Allens Inc., the canned vegetable manufacturer based in Siloam Springs.

Allens, which filed for bankruptcy in October, was purchased by Sager Creek in February in a deal valued at about $160 million. Sager Creek paid $123.8 million for the 86-year-old company.

Chief Administrative Officer James Phillips said customers will notice little difference in products, although the manufacturer is changing its name. Brand names -- such as Veg-All, Allens Popeye Spinach and Freshlike -- will not change.

"From a customer perspective, there is certain technical language on labels that will be changed eventually, but the brands will remain the same," Phillips said.

Many of the changes associated with the name change will happen internally, Phillips said.

Sager Creek, which employs more than 1,000 with operations in Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin, is named after a creek that runs through Siloam Springs.

The bankruptcy case is ongoing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

-- Chris Bahn

Disaster aid sought in flooded counties

Arkansas' congressional delegation Tuesday asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers whose crops and herds were damaged by recent flooding, according to a news release.

Members of the state's delegation wrote Vilsack in support of Gov. Mike Beebe's request for federal disaster aid for farms in 10 counties.

About 75,000 acres in Cross, Lee, Prairie, Woodruff, Independence, Lonoke, St. Francis, Jackson, Monroe and White counties were damaged by flooding, said Zachary Taylor, spokesman for the Arkansas Agriculture Department.

The requested aid would give farmers the opportunity to apply for emergency loans through the Farm Service Agency, according to the letter.

-- Jessica Seaman

ArcBest, Acxiom fall as index sheds 1.93

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.93 to 352.07 Tuesday.

"Another day of profit-taking pushed stocks lower in advance of the second-quarter earnings season, which kicked off after the close [Tuesday]," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.

Shares of ArcBest, Acxiom and Home BancShares fell more than 2 percent, Williams said.

Deltic Timber established a 52-week low in active trading, Williams said.

Total volume of the index was 18.4 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 on 07/09/2014