PB bank completes Delta Trust buyout
Simmons First National Corp. has completed the purchase of Delta Trust & Bank of Little Rock, the Pine Bluff banking firm said Tuesday.
Delta Trust's shareholders approved the merger Friday and the transaction was completed Sunday.
Delta Trust temporarily will remain a separate bank as a subsidiary of Simmons until Delta Trust's computer system is converted to Simmons' system, which is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Simmons said in March that it would pay $66 million to buy Delta Trust.
Simmons was interested in the acquisition because it helped Simmons to add locations in southern, central and Northwest Arkansas, as well as to add Delta Trust's insurance agency and securities brokerage services to Simmons.
Simmons has total assets of $4.8 billion with locations in Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri.
-- David Smith
Dassault celebrates LR plant's progress
Corporate and government officials gathered at the Dassault Falcon complex at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field on Tuesday to mark progress on the $60 million expansion of the plant.
Work on the addition of a 250,000-square-foot hangar to accommodate two new models of business jets started about two months ago.
The Little Rock facility completes planes to the specifications of customers after the jets are built in France.
Scheduled to be completed by early 2016, the expansion will enlarge the complex to 1.25 million square feet. The cabinet, upholstery and headliner shops also will be refurbished and older hangars upgraded.
"This undertaking demonstrates a commitment to continue our investment in Little Rock and to ensure the facility will remain at the forefront of completion technology," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eric Trappier said in a statement. The facility is the company's largest industrial plant, he said.
-- Jack Weatherly
State index gains 1.75, led by ArcBest
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.75 to 355.28 Monday.
"Equities finished mixed as investors grew wary of the upcoming European Central Bank meeting and monthly employment reports later this week," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
ArcBest rose 4.2 percent in active trading, Williams said.
Both Windstream and Murphy Oil fell by more than 2 percent on light volume, he said.
Total volume of the index was 22.1 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 09/03/2014