Biggest Deals of 2012

Announced transactions valued or believed to be valued at $9 million or more, ranked by value (in millions) Buyer Seller Month City City Price Description Announced ABB Ltd. Thomas & Betts Corp. $3,900.0 Purchase by Swiss power and technology group ABB, which bought Baldor January Zurich Memphis Electric Co. of Fort Smith in 2010, of Thomas & Betts, maker of electrical 1 products. Baxter International Inc. Gambro AB $2,760.0 Purchase by drug and medical device manufacturer Baxter International of December Deerfield, IL Lund, Sweden Gambro, which makes dialysis products. Baxter has a manufacturing facility 2 in Mountain Home. Murphy Oil Corp. $1,500.0 Sale of bonds to help fund a special dividend and share buyback. November 3 El Dorado Southwestern Energy Co. $1,100.0 Investment in Fayetteville Shale Play. February 4 Houston Walgreen Co. Stephen L. Lafrance Holdings, Inc. $438.0 Purchase of regional chain that includes 144 drugstores operated under the July Deerfield, IL Pine Bluff USA Drug, Super D Drug, May's Drug, Med-X and Drug Warehouse stores in 5 Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Stephens Inc. and others Knight Capital Group Inc. $400.0 Participation (with the Jefferies Group, Blackstone, Getco, Stifel Nicolaus August Little Rock Jersey City, NJ and TD Ameritrade) in the $400 million purchase of a 73 percent interest in 6 a trading firm whose computer software error led to stock market confusion that cost the firm $440 million. Middleby Corp. Viking Range Corp. $380.0 Purchase of Viking Range, a maker of ovens and other kitchen equipment, December Elgin, IL Greenwood, MS whose shareholders were affiliated with Stephens Inc. or the Stephens 7 Group of Little Rock or were Viking executives. Nexans Industrial Growth Partners $275.0 Purchase of AmerCable of El Dorado, a maker of cables for the mining, oil February 8 Paris San Francisco and gas and renewable energy industries. Third Point LLC Murphy Oil Corp. $260.5 Third Point LLC, a subsidiary of Third Point Management Co. LLC, acquired November 9 New York El Dorado shares of the publicly traded oil company between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2012. Dillard's Inc. $250.0 Repurchase of up to $250 million of Dillard's Class A Common Stock. February 10 Little Rock Arkansas Best Corp. Fenway Partners LLC $180.0 Purchase from Fenway Partners, a private equity firm, of Panther Expedited June 11 Fort Smith New York Services Inc. of Seville, OH, a shipping and logistics company. Acxiom Corp. $150.0 Increase by Acxiom of a stock repurchase plan from $50 million to $150 May 12 Little Rock million. Martin Midstream Partners LP Cross Oil Refining & Marketing Inc. $121.8 Purchase of specialty naphthenic lubricant processing assets from Cross Oil October Kilgore, TX Smackover Refining & Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Martin Resource Management 13 Corp., the owner of Martin Midstream Partners' general partner. Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. Amicare Behavioral Centers LLC $113.0 Purchase of provider of behavioral health services in western Arkansas, November Franklin, TN Fayetteville which does business as Vista Health, operating three inpatient psychiatric 14 treatment facilities in Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Texarkana, as well as other health care facilities. Rouse Properties Inc. Turtle Creek Partners LLC $96.3 Purchase of The Mall at Turtle Creek in Jonesboro and of an adjacent November 15 New York Jonesboro shopping center, Turtle Creek Crossing. The Stephens Group LLC and others Jefferson National Financial Corp. $83.0 Buyout of provider of investment and financial services by management and January Little Rock Louisville, KY equity investors including Financial Partners Fund, a unit of Citi Capital 16 Advisors; The Stephens Group; and Eric Schwartz, a private investor. W.P. Carey & Co. LLC RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive $66.0 Purchase of nine auto dealerships in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, September New York Holdings LLC Missouri,Tennessee and Texas. The facilities will be leased back to RLJ- Little Rock McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings for 16 years. It was the first 17 investment completed through a partnership with CapRocq Automotive LLC. Mission Broadcasting Newport Television $60.0 Purchase of Little Rock TV stations KLRT-TV, Channel 16, and KASN-TV, July 18 Westlake, OH Kansas City, MO Chanel 38. Bed Bath & Beyond Cost Plus Inc. $59.5 Purchase of discount chain for about $495 million included proceeds of May Union, NJ Oakland, CA about $59.5 million to Cost Plus' second-largest shareholder, Stephens 19 Investment Holdings LLC of Little Rock. Valero Retail Holdings Crackerbox Food Stores $50.0B Purchase of 32 convenience stores from Russellville to Dermott. May 20 San Antonio Hot Springs Medical Facilities Corp. Arkansas Surgical Hospital LLC $36.2 Purchase of a 51 percent stake in Arkansas Surgical Hospital. November 21 Toronto North Little Rock Liberty Utilities Co. Suez Environnement Co. SA $28.6 Liberty Utilities, a subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., bought July Liberty, TX Paris United Water Arkansas Inc. of Pine Bluff, a subsidiary of United Water Inc., 22 ultimately owned by Suez Environnement Co SA. United Water Arkansas provides water services. AdCare Health Systems Inc. $27.3 Purchase of three Arkansas nursing homes. January 23 Springfield, OH Bank of the Ozarks Inc. Genala Banc Inc. $27.3 Purchase of the holding company for The Citizens Bank of Geneva, AL, which October 23 Little Rock Geneva, AL operated one banking office. Chambers Bancshares Inc. Peterson Holding Co. $21.5C Purchase of controlling interest of parent company of Decatur State Bank. December 25 Danville Decatur The deal includes Grand Savings Bank of Grove, Okla. Gladstone Investment Corp. Drew Foam Cos. Inc. $21.0 Purchase of stake in Drew Foam Cos., a maker of expanded polystyrene. August 26 McLean, VA Monticello Whisenhunt Investment Group Bank of America $19.0 Purchase of 375 acres along Interstate 540 in Benton County. March 27 Little Rock Charlotte, NC Maxis Properties and other investment Forest Place Joint Venture, Rector $17.6 Purchase of 256-unit Forest Place Apartments in Little Rock. March groups Phillips Morse Inc. 28 North Kansas City, MO Little Rock Little Rock HC&R Property Holdings LLC Little Rock AVIV LLC $17.1 Purchase of Little Rock Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center, a 174-bed July 29 Atlanta Chicago nursing home. Arvest Bank Group Inc. First Olathe Bancshares Inc. $16.3D Purchase of Union Bank from First Olathe Bancshares for an undisclosed January Bentonville Kansas City, MO amount. All Union Bank branches will reopen as Arvest Bank branches 30 following the acquisition. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System V&T Bailey Timberlands $16.0 Purchase of about 10,000 acres of woodlands between Sheridan and Pine June 31 Little Rock Little Rock Bluff. Ritter Communications Inc. Millington CATV Inc. $13.1E Purchase of Millington CATV Inc., allowing Ritter to strengthen its digital September 32 Jonesboro Millington, TN cable and Internet broadband services. Pleasant Woods LR LLC Pleasant Woods Apartment Associates $12.2 Purchase of a 220-unit apartment project by an affiliate of Dial Realty of March Omaha, NE LLC Omaha. 33 Yardley, PA PACEpartners Inc. Vivione Biosciences LLC $12.0 PACEpartners entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Vivione May Houston Little Rock Biosciences LLC for $12 million in stock in a reverse takeover transaction. 34 Vivione Biosciences provides bio-pharmaceutical diagnostic testing services. Allied Drive Holdings LLC Alltel Communications LLC $10.5 Purchase of three buildings on former Alltel campus. January 35 Little Rock Allegiance Hospital of North Little Rock City of Jacksonville $10.2 Purchase of North Metro Medical Center and Caraco child-care center in August LLC Jacksonville Jacksonville. 36 Shreveport CG-Bowman Properties LLC, SS One of Bowman Plaza I LLC, Bowman Plaza II $10.2 Purchase of a 111,000-SF office-warehouse on 9.9-acre site and a 64,304-SF December Arkansas LLC; LAF Brothers Properties LLC office-warehouse on 4.9-acre site. 37 LCC Little Rock Little Rock University of Arkansas for Medical Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy $9.5 Cost to UAMS of the cancellation of its lease agreement with CARTI and April Sciences Institute purchase of CARTI's assets at UAMS. 38 Little Rock Little Rock MIMG XXIX Block 2 LLC LSF5 Block Two LLC $9.0 Purchase by MIMG XXIX Block 2 LLC, a Monarch Investment & Management January Franktown, CO Dallas Group affiliate, of a 1.05-acre project in downtown Little Rock that includes 39 the Democrat Printing & Lithograph Building, the Archer Drug Building and the Wallace Building. St. Vincent Health System Heart Clinic Arkansas NA Purchase of Arkansas' largest cardiology group. January NR Little Rock Little Rock WalmartLabs Small Society LLC NA WalmartLabs, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, acquired Small Society January Bentonville Portland, OR LLC, which has 13 employees, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition NR strengthens the mobile payment services of WalmartLabs, which has a satellite office of WalmartLabs in Portland. Riverside Partners LLC, Express Courier EagleOne Inc. NA Express Courier International Inc., a portfolio company of private equity firm January International Inc. Fort Smith the Riverside Co., acquired Eagle One Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The NR New York; Franklin, TN acquisition allows Express to enter the Texas and Oklahoma markets. EagleOne provides transportation and logistics services. Appriss Inc. Mobile Patrol LLC NA Appriss Inc. acquired Mobile Patrol LLC for an undisclosed price. The January NR Louisville, KY Rogers transaction expands upon smartphone applications offered by Appriss Inc. Stephens Insurance LLC Grace Group Inc. NA Stephens Insurance LLC, a subsidiary of Stephens Inc., acquired Grace Group January NR Little Rock Little Rock for an undisclosed amount. First Arkansas Bank & Trust BV Card Assets LLC NA First Arkansas Bank & Trust, a subsidiary of First Arkansas Bancshares Inc., February Jacksonville Atlanta acquired the remaining 82 percent stake not already owned in BV Card NR Assets LLC for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition allows First Arkansas Bank & Trust to enter the credit card business. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The Store Corp. NA Wal-Mart bought an additional 33.6 percent stake in Yihaodian.com for an February Bentonville Shanghai undisclosed amount. The transaction increased Wal-Mart's shareholding in NR the company to a 51.3 percent majority stake. The acquisition allows Wal- Mart to increase its customer support in China. Team Transport Inc. Lee's Trucking Inc. NA Team Transport, a subsidiary of SB Inc. doing business as Sherman Brothers February NR Harrisburg, OR El Dorado Heavy Trucking, acquired Lee's Trucking for an undisclosed amount in cash. Bonduelle North America Inc. Allens Inc. NA Divestiture of four food processing plants in Bergen, Brockfield and Oakfield, March NR Saint-Denis-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec Siloam Springs NY, and Fairwater, WI. The Stephens Group LLC, TowerBrook Shale-JJD LLC NA Shale-Inland Acquisitions, a holding company owned by TowerBrook March Capital Partners LLC, Shale-Inland Schiller Park, IL Capital Partners and the Stephens Group, agreed to acquire Shale-Inland NR Acquisitions LLC Stamping & Fabricating LLC for an undisclosed amount. At the same time, Little Rock, New York Shale-Inland Acquisitions acquired the IPVF business of HD Supply Inc. Shale-Inland Acquisitions and the IPVF business will be combined. Rhein Chemie Corp. Tire Curing Bladders LLC NA Rhein Chemie Corp., a subsidiary of Lanxess AG, acquired Tire Curing March Chardon, OH Little Rock Bladders LLC for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is part of Lanxess' NR strategy to position Rhein Chemie as a global producer of tire curing bladders. Huber Specialty Hydrates LLC Dubai Holding LLC NA Huber Specialty Hydrates, a subsidiary of JM Huber Corp., acquired the April Bauxite Dubai, U.A.E. specialty hydrate business of Almatis Inc. from Almatis GmbH. Almatis NR GmbH is part of Dubai International Capital LLC, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding LLC, which is ultimately owned by the government of Dubai. Sumotext Corp. Phoenix Media-Communications Group NA Sumotext acquired g8wave Inc. from Phoenix Media-Communications April Little Rock Boston Group for an undisclosed amount. G8wave provides integrated mobile NR media services. Summit Housing Partners LLC Bailey Properties LLC NA Summit Housing Partners agreed to acquire Bailey Properties for an April Montgomery, AL Little Rock undisclosed amount. After the transaction, a new company, BSR Trust LLC, NR will be formed. Bailey Properties owns and manages apartments. ConAgra Foods Inc. Odom's Tennessee Pride NA Purchase of Odom's, a producer of breakfast sandwiches and sausages that April NR Omaha, NE Madison, TN had 300 employees at a plant in Little Rock. Capella Healthcare Inc. Mercy Health NA Capella Healthcare, a portfolio investment company of GTCR Golder Rauner April Franklin, TN Hot Springs LLC, agreed to acquire St. Joseph's Mercy Health Center Inc., a subsidiary of NR Mercy Health, for an undisclosed amount. MII Life Inc. American Chartered Bancorp Inc. NA MII Life Inc, doing business as SelectAccount, and a subsidiary of Arkansas June St. Paul, MN Schaumburg, IL Blue Cross & Blue Shield, acquired the assets and operations of the health NR savings account business of American Chartered Bank (Illinois), a subsidiary of American Chartered Bancorp, for an undisclosed amount. Stephens Capital Partners LLC, Halifax Freedom Communications Inc. NA Purchase of 19 newspapers in Florida and North Carolina by Halifax Media, June Media Holdings LLC Irvine, CA which is majority owned by Stephens Capital Partners of Little Rock. NR Little Rock; Daytona Beach, FL Smith Auto Group Hendren Auto Group NA Purchase of automobile dealerships. June NR Fort Smith Pineville, MO Mountaire Farms Inc. Marubeni Corp. NA Mountaire Farms, a subsidiary of Mountaire Corp., based in Little Rock, June Selbyville, DE Townsend, DE acquired Gavilon Grain LLC from Marubeni Corp. for an undisclosed amount. NR Gavilon Grain engages in distribution of grain, feed ingredients, fertilizers and energy products. Ludwig Distributing Co. Inc. Coco Distributing Co. Inc. NA Ludwig Distributing acquired Coco Distributing for an undisclosed amount. July Stuttgart Helena The transaction enhances Ludwig Distributing's portfolio of alcohol NR distribution services. Vanguard Natural Resources LLC Antero Resources LLC NA Purchase by a natural gas company of 5,300 acres in the Fayetteville Shale. July Houston Denver The acreage was part of a $434.4 million acquisition, with most of the NR assets — 66,000 acres of them — in the Woodford Shale in the Oklahoma portion of the Arkoma Basin. Trotter Auto Group Murphy Nissan and Murphy Chrysler NA Purchase of two Mike Murphy family auto dealerships. July Pine Bluff Dodge NR El Dorado Vision Capital LLP, Speyside Equity LLC, Syrgis Performance Initiators Inc. NA United Initiators, a division of Vision Capital LLP and Speyside Equity LLC, July United Initiators GmbH & Co. KG Helena acquired Syrgis Performance Initiators, a subsidiary of Syrgis Performance London; Philadelphia; Pullach, Germany Products LLC, itself a part of Edgewater Capital Partners, for an undisclosed NR amount in cash. Syrgis Performance Initiators makes organic peroxide products. The ServiceMaster Co., Terminix Inc., Schendel Pest Services NA Purchase by Terminix Inc, a subsidiary of the ServiceMaster Co. and August ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc. Topeka, KS ultimately owned by Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC. NR Memphis, Little Rock American Community Development Southbridge Advisory Group Inc. NA Purchase by American Community Development Group of Earthlinc August Group Inc. Tulsa Environmental Solutions Inc. from Southbridge Advisory Group. Earthlinc NR Tampa, FL Environmental Solutions, based in Arkansas, provides remediation services for soil, water and emergency responses. Brown-Hiller Inc. Group Insurance Consultants of Fort NA Purchase by Brown-Hiller Inc., doing business as Brown-Hiller-Clark & August Fort Smith Smith Inc. Associates, a subsidiary of First Bank Corp. NR Fort Smith Pinnacle Propane LLC Reynolds Brothers Propane Inc. NA Purchase by Pinnacle Propane, a subsidiary of JP Energy Partners LP. September NR Georgetown, TX Greenbrier A4 Solutions LLC, Metova Federal Metova Mobile NA The acquisition of Metova allows A4 Solutions to enter into the mobile September Services Franklin, TN application development market. NR Cabot, Cabot K-Mac Enterprises Inc. No Limits LLC NA Purchase by K-Mac Enterprises, a portfolio company of Brentwood September Fort Smith Farmington, MO Associates. The acquisition increases the number of K-Mac Enterprises' NR restaurants. Ritter Communications Inc. Telephone & Data Systems Inc. NA Purchase of Millington Telephone Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Telephone & Data September Jonesboro Millington, TN Systems Inc. The transaction enhances Ritter Communications' portfolio of NR broadband and telecommunication services. Stribling Equipment LLC Warrior Tractor & Equipment Co. Inc. NA Purchase by Stribling Equipment, a subsidiary of GS&L Enterprises Inc., of October Richland, MS Mabelvale Warrior of Arkansas Inc. from Warrior Tractor & Equipment Co. Inc. The deal NR enables Stribling to expand its John Deere Construction & Forestry dealerships in Mississippi and Arkansas. Shareholders Murphy Oil Corp. NA Murphy Oil Corp. agreed to spin off its subsidiary, Murphy Oil USA Inc., for an October NR El Dorado undisclosed amount in stock. J.D. & Billy Hines Trucking Inc. McComb Diesel Inc. NA J.D. & Billy Hines Trucking Inc., also known as Hines Trucking Inc., acquired October NR Prescott Magnolia, MS the Chip Haul Division of Harvest Haul Inc. from McComb Diesel Inc. L&R Distributors Inc. Walgreen Co. NA L&R Distributors Inc. agreed to buy Stephen L LaFrance Pharmacy Inc. from November Brooklyn, NY Pine Bluff Walgreen Co. for an undisclosed amount. Stephen L. LaFrance Pharmacy NR distributes drugs and pharmaceutical products. Rhino Linings Corp. BioBased Technologies LLC NA Rhino Linings acquired the assets and business of the BioBased Insulation December San Diego, CA Springdale business of Biobased Technologies for an undisclosed amount. BioBased NR Insulation makes soy-based polyol insulation. Arvest Bank Bank of America NA Purchase of 29 bank branches in four states: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas December NR Fayetteville Charlotte, NC and Missouri. JP Energy Partners LP TAC Energy NA Purchase of terminals in Caddo Mills, Texas, and North Little Rock belonging December NR Irving, TX Dallas to TAC energy, a division of Truman Arnold Cos. BNSF Logistics LLC, Burlington Albacor Shipping Inc. NA Purchase by BNSF Logistics LLC of Albacor Shipping. In a related but December Northern Santa Fe LLC Toronto separate transaction, BNSF Logistics LLC also acquired EP-Team Inc. NR Springdale; Fort Worth, TX BNSF Logistics LLC, Burlington EP-Team Inc. NA BNSF Logistics LLC, a subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, December Northern Santa Fe LLC Flower Mound, TX trading as Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and a Berkshire Hathaway NR Springdale; Fort Worth, TX Inc. company, acquired EP-Team Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The purchase expands the company's logistics operations. Dentsu Holdings USA Inc. Mitchell Communications Group LLC NA Dentsu Holdings USA Inc., a subsidiary of Dentsu Inc., acquired Mitchell DecemberF New York Fayetteville Communications Group LLC for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will NR strengthen the service offerings of Dentsu Holdings USA Inc. in North America. Sources: Company news releases, Arkansas Business archives, various public records, FactSet Research Systems Inc., Dealogic. NR: Deals believed Researched by Jan Cottingham to be worth $9 million or more but not ranked because no value was announced publicly 1 Estimated value of the real estate associated with the 32 stores. 2 Estimated based on 80 percent the equity capital in both banks as of Sept. 30, 2012 3 Estimated based on bank's equity capital as of March 31, 2012. 4 According to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, as part of the transfer Ritter would pay off all but approximately $1 million of Millington's $14.1 million debt to the U.S. Department of Agriculture 5 Completed Dec. 31, but not announced until Jan. 4, 2013