Ex-CEO at Wal-Mart
rejoins Darden board
Bill Simon, former president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart U.S., has joined the board of Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants, where he was a director for the casual-dining restaurant giant for two years. Darden operates Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and a slew of other eateries.
He joined Wal-Mart in 2006 and became leader of the retailer's largest operating segment in 2010. His departure in August was said to be linked to consecutive quarters of sluggish sales in the company's U.S. stores. Simon was replaced by the head of the company's Asia operations, Greg Foran. Simon remains a consultant for Wal-Mart into next year.
Before joining Wal-Mart, he was at Brinker International and at the Florida Department of Management Services.
Darden recently replaced all members of its board of directors. Simon had been one member of the board who hadn't sought re-election.
-- Cyd King
Farmland firm to buy
2,000 acres in state
Real-estate investment company, Farmland Partners, has contracted to buy a little more than 6,000 acres in Arkansas and Nebraska in a $25 million deal.
Two Arkansas farms with approximately 2,000 acres combined make up $10 million of the $25 million deal, Luca Fabbri, the Denver-based company's chief financial officer, said Friday. He declined to disclose the farms' locations because the land is under contract and the deal had not closed.
Farmland Partners also recently purchased about 700 acres in Yell County and has two other farms in Arkansas, Fabbri said.
The company also expanded its secured-note purchase facility with the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. from $30 million to $75 million, according to a release. Farmland Partners has 44 farms, with more than 26,000 acres in Arkansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Colorado and Louisiana.
Shares of publicly traded Farmland Partners rose 33 cents, or 3.5 percent, to close Friday at $9.85.
-- John Magsam
Arkansas Index up
0.19 as 9 stocks rise
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 0.19 to 337.94 Friday.
Nine stocks advanced and eight declined.
ArcBest gained 4 percent in light trading.
Home BancShares dropped 2.8 percent.
For the week, 12 stocks rose and five lost ground.
America's Car-Mart had the best week, rising 9.6 percent.
Total volume of the index was 27.9 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 28.1 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 10/18/2014