Firm buying 85% of 21c Museum Hotels
French hotel and resort group Accor Hotels has signed a $51 million deal to acquire the lion's share of 21c Museum Hotels.
Louisville-based 21c, known for merging upscale room and board with 21st century art galleries, was founded in 2006. The third 21c hotel opened in 2013 in Bentonville. The $30 million, four-story hotel has 104 rooms and a gourmet restaurant, the Hive.
Accor, valued at $16 billion, said Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase an 85 percent stake in 21c. Co-founders Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson will retain a 15 percent stake in the company and act as creative consultants. Both parties plan to close the deal in the third quarter. There are 11 21c locations open or in development nationwide.
"We are confident that the unique spirit of 21c will not only be preserved, but will flourish," Wilson said in a news release. "We are extremely excited to see what the future holds."
The location is owned by 21c Museum Hotels, a Walton family partnership and the nonprofit Bentonville Revitalization Inc., according to a 990-form filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
-- Nathan Owens
PETA asks Walmart to post hot-car signs
Animal-welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked Walmart Inc. Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon to install signs at stores reminding customers not to leave children and pets in cars while they shop.
In a letter dated July 30, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk asked McMillon to require all Walmart stores to post the reminders. Newkirk noted that some of the retailer's stores already have such signs.
Newkirk wrote that so far this summer, at least 24 children and 39 animals have died in hot cars, and that 42 children and 44 animals died last summer in hot vehicles. Those figures don't include unreported incidents, she said.
The letter was prompted by the July 4 death of a dog left for about eight hours in a car at an Alabama Walmart. The dog's owner was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals.
-- Serenah McKay
Trucking firm gains buoy Arkansas Index
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 3.64 to 434.69 Tuesday.
Ten stocks rose and six declined.
PAM Transportation gained 6.4 percent on heavy volume and USA Truck rose 5.8 percent on average volume.
Total volume for the index was 23.7 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 08/01/2018