Loan to aid updates for rural power lines
South Central Arkansas Electric Cooperative has secured a federal loan of $32.9 million to build and improve 181 miles of transmission lines in rural parts of the state.
The financing comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Electric Loan program that offers loans for electric infrastructure improvements in areas where commercial capital isn't available.
The USDA said Friday that it is investing $1.4 billion in loans for projects in 21 states, including Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. The loans will improve almost 7,000 miles of electric line in rural areas and $255.8 million of it will be for smart grid infrastructure improvements that applies digital technology to detect and react to changes in electricity usage.
The Arkansas loan will be used to connect 700 customers and build and improve electric infrastructure in the state's 4th Congressional District, according to the USDA. It also will fund about $27 million in smart-grid technology improvements.
The Arkadelphia-based electric co-op serves about 11,000 customers through almost 2,000 miles of power lines in Nevada, Montgomery, Howard, Hempstead, Dallas, Hot Spring and Clark counties.
-- Nathan Owens
LR's BSR pays $93M for Texas apartments
BSR Real Estate Investment Trust of Little Rock has purchased two apartment complexes in Texas for $92.8 million.
The company purchased a 300-unit complex in Richmond, a Houston suburb, and a 216-unit property in Allen, which is in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
BSR used $56.9 million in mortgage debt and its credit facilities for the balance of the purchase. The acquisitions are expected to be immediately accretive to the firm's adjusted funds from operations on a per-unit basis.
The complexes are the eighth property acquisition for BSR since it completed its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2018.
BSR shares rose 15 cents, or 1.3%, to close Friday at $11.94.
-- Andrew Moreau
State index up 4.39 as 11 stocks climb
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Friday at 456.68, up 4.39.
Eleven of the index stocks rose as the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq hit record highs on an October jobs report that exceeded expectations.
Shares of Murphy Oil Corp. rose 6.69%. P.A.M. Transportation rose 3.56%. Simmons shares rose 3.49%.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 11/02/2019