Acxiom shareholders OK sale of business
Acxiom Corp. shareholders have approved the $2.3 billion sale of its major business line to Interpublic Group, a global advertising holding company, the Conway-based company announced Thursday.
The transaction involving the sale of Acxiom Marketing Solutions was announced July 2. It accounts for two thirds of the Acxiom's business. The sale is expected to close Oct. 1. The division employs 2,100 people worldwide and 1,500 in Conway, where it will remain based, according to Interpublic Group.
What remains of Acxiom will be called LiveRamp Holdings Inc. with headquarters in San Francisco. LiveRamp, which Acxiom acquired in 2014 for $310 million, is a data onboarding company that transfers offline data to online applications for marketing purposes.
The company also announced that effective Oct. 2, assumed the Acxiom Marketing Solutions transaction closes, it will transfer its stock listing from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock will trade under the ticker symbol "RAMP."
-- Noel Oman
Aluminum supplier to update foil plants
JW Aluminum, a domestic supplier of flat rolled aluminum, is investing $32.8 million to optimize equipment for foil production, the Goose Creek, S.C., firm said Thursday.
The upgrades will further automate control systems in the company's foil producing facilities in Russellville, St. Louis and Williamsport, Pa.
The investment also includes projects to enhance existing rolling mills, annealing equipment and slitters to improve quality and reliability.
The expansion of the Goose Creek plant, focused on the sheet side of the business, is underway and on schedule to be complete in 2020.
"These investments reinforce our commitment to continuous improvement and customers in our core markets," said Ryan Roush, chief commercial officer.
-- David Smith
State index up 1.53; 10 stocks rise, 6 dip
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.53 to 463.09 Thursday.
Ten stocks rose and six fell.
"Equities rallied sharply with the Dow Jones industrial average breaching above the January high in advance of today's quadruple witch stock expiration and a revision to the S&P 500 Global Industry Classification Standard, which is expected to drive heavy volumes," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 19.5 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 09/21/2018