Biggest Deals of 2008 Announced transactions valued or believed to be valued at $9 million or more, ranked Price Buyer, City Seller, City (millions) 1 Verizon Communications, Atlantis Holdings LLC, $28,100.0 Basking Ridge, NJ Wilmington, NC 2 International Paper Co., Weyerhaeuser Co., $6,100.0 Memphis Federal Way, WA 3 CenturyTel Inc., Embarq Corp., $5,000.0 Monroe, LA Overland Park, KS 4 Evraz Group SA, SSAB Svenskt Stal AB, $4,025.0 Luxembourg Stockholm, Sweden 5 HD Supply Waterworks Merrill Lynch Capital $3,400.0 Ltd., Orlando, FL Corp., New York 6 Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Distribucion y Servicio $2,800.0 Bentonville (D&S), Santiago, Chile 7 BP America, Houston Chesapeake Energy $1,900.0 Corp., Oklahoma City 8 Kinder Morgan Energy $1,300.0 Partners LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP, Houston and Dallas 9 TMK OAO, Moscow Evraz Group SA $1,200.0 10 Texas Gas Transmission $821.0 LLC, Owensboro, KY 11 XTO Energy Inc., Seeco Inc., $518.3 Fort Worth, TX Fayetteville 12 Joseph T. Ryerson & Wells Fargo Bank, $425.0 Sons Inc., Chicago San Francisco 13 Kenner & Co., New York Leggett & Platt Inc., $325.0 Carthage, MO 14 HP Communities LLC, U.S. Bank, Minneapolis $287.0 El Paso, TX 15 Petrohawk Energy Corp., $231.3 Houston 16 Ace Hardware Corp., Bank of America, $225.0 Oakbrook, IL Charlotte, NC 17 Wells Fargo & Co., Century Bancshares $170.0 San Francisco Inc., Texarkana, TX 18 XL Foods Inc., Canada Tyson Foods Inc., $152.0 Springdale 19 Arkansas Children's $115.0 Hospital, Little Rock 20 Nordex USA Inc., Chicago $100.0 20 Man Industries Ltd., $100.0 Mumbai, India 22 BJ Services Co., Houston $82.0 23 Axis LLC, St. $75.0 Charles, MO 24 AT&T, San Antonio Windstream Corp., $60.0 Little Rock 25 The Stephens Group LLC, Dail Mail & General $58.0 Little Rock Trust Plc, Solon, Ohio 26 Complete Production Therral Story Well $57.0 Services Inc., Houston Service LLC, Magnolia 27 Baldor Electric Co., Poulies Maska Inc., $42.0 Fort Smith Ste. Claire, Quebec 28 Nice-Pak Products Inc., $40.0 Orangeburg, NY 28 Anchor Packaging Inc., $40.0 Orangeburg, NY 30 Baldor Electric Co., $30.7 Fort Smith 31 Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Burt Hanna and David $29.9 Bentonville Slone, Springdale 32 Chesapeake Energy Corp., Arkansas Game & Fish $29.5 Oklahoma City Commission, Little Rock 33 Hewlett-Packard Co., $28.0 Palo Alto, CA 34 Lance Inc., Brent & Sam's Inc., $26.3 Charlotte, NC North Little Rock 35 Trinity Court Inc., Bank of Oklahoma, Tulsa $25.5 Robinson Nursing & Rehabilitation Center and Ecumenical Care & Rehabilitation Center at Good Shepherd LLC, Pulaski County 36 Celadon Group Inc., Continental Express $24.0 Indianapolis Inc., Little Rock 37 Farmers & Merchants Perry County Bancshares $22.8 Bancshares Inc., Inc., Perryville Stuttgart 38 SPC Park Avenue Ltd., Southern Real Estate & $22.0 Dallas Financial Co., the William L. Patton Jr. Family Ltd. LLLP and Arkansas Acquisitions 39 Pradco-Fishing, Inc., Little Rock $21.0 Fort Smith Seller, City 40 Aviation Repair $20.0 Technologies, Miami 41 MPT of Fayetteville LLC, Fayetteville Health $19.5 Fayetteville Associates, Fayettteville 42 Luken Communications Equity Media Holding $18.5 LLC, Chattanooga, TN Corp., Little Rock 43 Burkhalter-Vestal LLC, First Security Bank, $18.2 North Little Rock Searcy 44 River Bend LLC, Victor Plastics, $17.4 Fort Smith North Liberty, IA 45 Alltel Communications Citibank, New York $16.1 LLC, Little Rock 46 Emergya Wind $16.0 Technologies Holdings NV, The Netherlands 47 Pulaski Bank & Federal Deposit $15.0 Trust, Little Rock Insurance Corp., Washington, D.C. 48 JJ Investments of Regions Bank, $15.0 Arkansas LLC, Little Birmingham, AL Rock 49 Baptist Health, Little Health Management $14.5 Rock Associates Inc., Naples, FL 50 MHG of Little Rock HIS Century Bank, $13.1 Ltd., Gainesville, GA Texarkana, TX 51 Doyle Rogers Family Simmons First National $12.0 Ltd., Little Rock Bank, Pine Bluff 52 Tom Muccio $10.1 53 Garver Engineers LLC, $10.0 Little Rock 53 Anderson Properties of SunTrust Bank, $10.0 TN LLC, Nashville, TN Richmond, VA 55 Dillard's Inc., William E. Clark Trust $9.8 Little Rock and Bragg Electric Construction Co., Little Rock 56 First Arkansas M&P Community $9.7 Bancshares Inc., Bancshares, Newport Jacksonville 57 Acxiom Corp., ChoicePoint Precision $9.0 Little Rock Marketing LLC, Alpharetta, GA NR Wehco Media Inc., The Weldon family, NA Little Rock Jefferson City, MO NR Duralor LLC, Racine, WI NA NR Tyson Foods Inc., Jiamgsu Jinghai Poultry NA Springdale Industry Group Ltd., China NR Tyson Foods Inc., Hendrix Genetics B.V., NA Springdale The Netherlands NR M.J. Lee Contruction Southern Pavers Inc., NA Co., Tulsa Pine Bluff NR N.E.W. Customer Services NA Cos., Sterling, VA NR H.I.G. Capital LLC, Tomklins Plc, London NA Miami NR Baptist Health, NA Little Rock NR Simmons Foods Inc., Peterson Farms Inc., NA Siloam Springs Decatur NR Rocal Inc., Frankfort, Interstate Highway NA Ohio Sign Corp., Little Rock NR Acxiom Corp., Quinetex LLC, NA Little Rock Rochester, NY NR Tyson Foods Inc., Godrej Foods Ltd., NA Springdale Mumbai, India NR Tyson Foods Inc., Shandong Xinchang NA Springdale Group, China NR Tyson Foods Inc., Macedo Agroindustrial, NA Springdale Avicola Itaiopolis and Frangobras, Brazil NR Umarex USA, Arnsberg, NA Germany NR RLJ-McLarty-Landers , Hickingbotham NA Automotive Partnership Investments Inc., Little Rock Little Rock NR QualServ Corp., Kansas NA City, MO NR Bay Creek Manufacturing, NA Mountain View, MO Month Buyer, City Description Announced 1 Verizon Communications, Purchase of Alltel Corp., June Basking Ridge, NJ the Little Rock telecommunication company 2 International Paper Co., Purchase of March Memphis containerboard packaging and recycling business that includes packaging plants at Fort Smith and Russellville 3 CenturyTel Inc., CenturyTel, the second October Monroe, LA largest telecommunications company in Arkansas, bought Embarq in an all- stock deal 4 Evraz Group SA, Evraz, a subsidary of March Luxembourg Lanebrook Ltd., bought Ipsco Tubulars Inc., which has a plant at Blytheville 5 HD Supply Waterworks Funding agreement backed January Ltd., Orlando, FL by 75,740-SF warehouse project in North Little Rock 6 Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Purchase of Chilean December Bentonville grocery chain 7 BP America, Houston Purchase of 25 percent of September Chesapeake's assets in Fayetteville Shale Play 8 Kinder Morgan Energy Development of natural October Partners LP and Energy gas pipeline in the Transfer Partners LP, Fayetteville Shale Play Houston and Dallas 9 TMK DAD, Moscow Purchase of Ipsco Tubular March Inc., which has a plant at Blytheville 10 Texas Gas Transmission Construction of January LLC, Owensboro, KY interstate natural gas pipeline in Fayetteville Shale Play 11 XTO Energy Inc., Purchase of oil and gas May Fort Worth, TX leases and gathering equipment 12 Joseph T. Ryerson & Funding agreement secured February Sons Inc., Chicago by industrial project in east Little Rock 13 Kenner & Co., New York Sale of Pace Industries July Inc. at Harrison 14 HP Communities LLC, Funding agreement for November El Paso, TX development of new housing at Little Rock Air Force Base 15 Petrohawk Energy Corp., Purchase of acreage in March Houston the Fayetteville Shale Play from a private seller 16 Ace Hardware Corp., Funding agreement for April Oakbrook, IL warehouse project at Maumelle 17 Wells Fargo & Co., Sale of Century Bank by August San Francisco Truman Arnold 18 XL Foods Inc., Canada Sale of Lakeside Farm June Industries Ltd. and its subsidiary Lakeside Packers 19 Arkansas Children's Expansion that will add September Hospital, Little Rock 54 new patient beds 20 Nordex USA Inc., Chicago The manufacturer of wind October turbines plans to build a plant at Jonesboro. 20 Man Industries Ltd., Construction of plant to March Mumbai, India make pipe at Little Rock Port, which will also serve as the company's North and South American headquarters 22 BJ Services Co., Houston New 64,000-SF regional February headquarters at Searcy 23 Axis LLC, St. Axis, a joint venture March Charles, MO between American Railcar Industries and Amsted Industries, plans a new 135,000-SF facility at Paragould to make railcar axles. 24 AT&T, San Antonio Sale of wireless August properties in North Carolina 25 The Stephens Group LLC, Purchase of 38 North July Little Rock American Consumer Home Shows by Marketplace Events LLC, a portfolio company of Stephens Group 26 Complete Production Acquisition of all the October Services Inc., Houston assets of Therral Story, an operator of workover rigs, swab rigs and drilling rigs. 27 Baldor Electric Co., Purchase of company that August Fort Smith makes mechanical power transmission components 28 Nice-Pak Products Inc., Locate a new October Orangeburg, NY manufacturing plant at Jonesboro to make pre- moistened wipes 28 Anchor Packaging Inc., Major expansion of June Orangeburg, NY Paragould plant that will add 120 jobs 30 Sale of Colinx September Distribution Center in Tennessee 31 Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Purchase of 375 000-SF September Bentonville Superior Building at Bentonville for Sam's Club headquarters 32 Chesapeake Energy Corp., Lease for drilling rights August Oklahoma City on part of a public wildlife management area 33 Hewlett-Packard Co., Construction of June Palo Alto, CA information technology center at Conway 34 Lance Inc., Purchase of gourmet March Charlotte, NC cookie maker 35 Trinity Court Inc., Funding agreement for March Robinson Nursing & cookie maker Rehabilitation Center and Ecumenical Care & Rehabilitation Center at Good Shepherd LLC, Pulaski County 36 Celadon Group Inc., Sale of Little Rock December Indianapolis trucking company 37 Farmers & Merchants Purchase of Chart Bank February Bancshares Inc., Stuttgart 38 SPC Park Avenue Ltd., Purchase of 27.7-acre January Dallas University Mall development, a half- acre Total convenience store and 0.6-acre former tire service center 39 Pradco-Fishing, Building a new 300,000-SF July Fort Smith manufacturing facility at Fort Chaffee. 40 Aviation Repair Locating an airframe and March Technologies, Miami engine repair plant at Blytheville's Arkansas Aeroplex 41 MPT of Fayetteville LLC, Purchase of Health South July Fayetteville Rehab Hospital 42 Luken Communications Purchase of Retro June LLC, Chattanooga, TN Television Network 43 Burkhalter-Vestal LLC, Financial package for January North Little Rock development of apartment project in North Little Rock 44 River Bend LLC, Purchase of custom April Fort Smith plastics molding company 45 Alltel Communications Funding agreement for March LLC, Little Rock office property in Little Rock 46 Emergya Wind New manufacturing October Technologies Holdings facility for Polymarin NV, The Netherlands Composites, a subsidiary of that makes rotor blades for the wind industry. Wind Emergy a Water Technology a supplier to Polymarin will invest $4 million at the same facility 47 Pulaski Bank & Purchase of insured May Trust, Little Rock deposits and eight branch offices of failed ANB Financial of Bentonville 48 JJ Investments of Funding agreement for October Arkansas LLC, Little development of auto Rock dealership in west Little Rock 49 Baptist Health, Little Purchase of 79-bed July Rock Southwest Regional Medical Center of Little Rock 50 MHG of Little Rock HIS Mortgage for Hampton Inn January Ltd., Gainesville, GA & Suites in downtown Little Rock 51 Doyle Rogers Family Funding agreement for October Ltd., Little Rock Kroger projects in Little Rock 52 Tom Muccio Purchase of Commerce Park December II, a four-story, 60,000- SF office building 53 Garver Engineers LLC, Construction of a new June Little Rock corporate headquarters in the North Little Rock Northshore Business Park. 53 Anderson Properties of Mortgage backed by east January TN LLC, Nashville, TN Little Rock warehouse project 55 Dillard's Inc., Purchase of the December Little Rock remaining half of CDI Contractors LLC 56 First Arkansas Purchase of Greers Ferry June Bancshares Inc., Lake State Bank Jacksonville 57 Acxiom Corp., Purchase of database August Little Rock marketing unit of ChoicePoint NR Wehco Media Inc., Purchase of the Jefferson April Little Rock City News Tribune, the Fulton Sun and the California Democrat NR Duralor LLC, Racine, WI Knowledge-based company May that makes high- performance coatings or cutting tools and machine parts plans international headquarters at Springdale NR Tyson Foods Inc., Agreement to build fully February Springdale integrated poultry operation near Shanghai NR Tyson Foods Inc., Cobb-Vantress Inc., a July Springdale wholly owned subsidiary of Tyson Foods, bought the Hybro poultry breeding and genetics business from Hendrix NR M.J. Lee Contruction Purchase of assets and March Co., Tulsa operations of Pine Bluff bridge builder by subsidiary of Rooney Holdings Inc. NR N.E.W. Customer Services Provider of extended June Cos., Sterling, VA service plans and buyer protection programs opens a call center at Russellville with 250 jobs NR H.I.G. Capital LLC, Purchase of Stant July Miami Manufacturing Inc., which has a major plant at Pine Bluff NR Baptist Health, Long-term lease of 49-bed September Little Rock Stuttgart Regional Medical Center NR Simmons Foods Inc., Purchase of broiler June Siloam Springs operations, hatcheries, office complex, processing facility, trucks and contractor relationships NR Rocal Inc., Frankfort, Merger in which the June Ohio owners of the two companies each owns 50 percent of the new company called Rocal Interstate Sign Solutions NR Acxiom Corp., Purchase of provider of November Little Rock analytics and predictive modeling for businesses in retail banking and other industries NR Tyson Foods Inc., Purchase of 51 percent June Springdale interest in Indian poultry producer NR Tyson Foods Inc., Joint venture with September Springdale poultry company in eastern China that gives Tyson 60 percent ownership NR Tyson Foods Inc., Expansion of Tyson's September Springdale international business in Brazil NR Umarex USA, Arnsberg, Move by airgun maker to a July Germany new 65,000-SF plant at Fort Chaffee that expects to add 60 to 120 workers within three years. NR RLJ-McLarty-Landers , Purchase of Jones Harley- September Automotive Partnership Davidson franchises in Little Little Rock Rock, North Little Rock and Hot Springs NR QualServ Corp., Kansas Move of corporate July City, MO headquarter to Fort Smith and add another 75 workers at its Fort Smith custom cabinet manufacturing plant NR Bay Creek Manufacturing, Expansion of Superior May Mountain View, MO Sewing Inc. facility at Salem that added another 80 workers. Sources: FactSet Mergerstate LLC of Santa Monica, CA; company news releases, Arkansas Business archives, various public records. NR: Deals believed to be worth $9 million or more but for which no value was announced publicly On the Web Purchase and download this list as a spreadsheet at Arkansasbusiness.com/lists. Choose from more than 50 lists or subscribe for unlimited downloads. Researched by John Henry
