News in brief

Materials firm buys Razorback Concrete

Razorback Concrete Co. of West Memphis was among purchases recently announced by Summit Materials Inc., a publicly traded construction materials company.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close on or before Feb. 28. Attempts to reach Razorback Concrete owner Keith Ingram and Summit Materials were not successful.

Razorback Concrete was founded in 1965 by W.K. Ingram. Keith and Kent Ingram, who are brothers, now own the company, which has 19 ready-mix locations in Arkansas.

Summit Chief Executive Officer Tom Hill said in a news release that Razorback Concrete provides Summit with a new regional market.

"We believe the Arkansas market is poised for higher construction activity levels over the longer term, driven by positive employment and population trends and increased public infrastructure spending," Hill said.

Everist Materials LLC of Idaho Springs, Colo., was also purchased by Summit Materials, which operates in the United States and British Columbia in Canada.

-- Chris Bahn

Wal-Mart again will take Visa in Canada

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will again accept Visa credit cards in its Canadian stores after reaching an agreement with the company Thursday.

The Bentonville-based retailer issued a one-sentence statement announcing the agreement with Visa, ending the dispute between the companies over credit card fees in Canada. No details of the agreement were disclosed by the companies.

Wal-Mart announced in July that it would no longer accept Visa cards at three stores in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and extended the ban to 16 additional stores across the Canadian province of Manitoba three months later. The company said fees applied to Visa credit card purchases were "unacceptably high."

Customers in those stores were able to use Visa cards again beginning Friday.

-- Robbie Neiswanger

12 state stocks fall, driving down index

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 2.21 to 359.51 Friday.

Twelve stocks declined, five rose and one was unchanged.

USA Truck had the biggest gain, rising 1.9 percent in light trading.

Communication Sales & Leasing fell 3 percent in heavy volume.

For the week, 11 stocks were up and seven fell.

USA Truck rose 11 percent for the week and Dillard's fell 10.1 percent.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 01/07/2017

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