News in brief

NLR waffle plant sold

to Connecticut firm

De Wafelbakkers, a manufacturer of frozen pancakes, waffles and French toast with a plant in North Little Rock, has been acquired by Brynwood Partners, a Greenwich, Conn., private equity firm specializing in food and beverage companies.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

De Wafelbakkers has operated a 100,000-square-foot plant off Crystal Hill Road for 27 years, most recently as part of The Oklahoma Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Anschutz Corportion. It also has a plant in Georgia. The company employs 650 people across both plants and a satellite headquarters, according to a news release.

Henk Hartong III, Brynwood's top executive, said his firm can accelerate De Wafelbakkers' business.

"The frozen pancake, waffle and French toast market is a growing space," he said in the release.

Brynwood's portfolio include Pilsbury, Martha White, Hungry Jack, Juicy Juice and Buitoni pasta, sauces and cheese. The acquisition increases its holdings to 16 facilities, employing 4,100 people and producing more than $2.2 billion in annual sales.

-- Noel Oman

Dillard's execs post

earnings for 2020

William Dillard II, chairman and chief executive officer of Dillard's Inc., earned $1.22 million in 2020, according to the company's annual proxy statement.

The Little Rock-based department store chain filed the document Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Dillard earned a base salary of $1.07 million, $54,658 in stock awards and $92,239 in other income. His total compensation was 112 times the median pay for company employees in 2020. This disclosure is required by law.

Because of financial pressures resulting from store closures during the pandemic, Dillard deferred a portion of his salary for part of the year and all salaried employees took a 20% temporary pay cut.

Alex Dillard, the company's president, earned $1.28 million. Executive vice presidents Mike Dillard and Drue Matheny earned $884,153 and $824,625, respectively. Senior vice presidents Chris Johnson and Phillip Watts earned $664,581 and $645,594, respectively.

Dillard's will hold its annual stockholders meeting on May 15.

-- Serenah McKay

Day's gain of 4.75

puts index at 608.36

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Monday at 608.36, up 4.75.

"A nice, strong day for stocks climbing to record highs on Monday after reports of a strong bounce in U.S. job growth and the service sector raised expectations for a quick economic recovery from the pandemic," said Chris Harkins, managing director at Raymond James & Associates.

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

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