🛢️Double Eagle flies high in oil deal; Aero: Southwest cutting, Coltala adding; Goodbye Neiman’s, hello KFC.

Fort Worth-based Double Eagle IV Midco has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to divest its equity interest in certain subsidiaries to Diamondback Energy in exchange for $3 billion of cash and approximately 6.9 million shares ($1 billion) of Diamondback common stock. Cody Campbell and John Sellers are Co-Chief Executive Officers of Double Eagle. The transaction is expected to close April 1.

Southwest Airlines is slashing 15% of its corporate positions --approximately 1,750 -- to cut costs.  It is the first mass layoff in the airlines' history. 

Fort Worth-based Coltala Holdings has formed Coltala Aerospace after acquiring Mansfield-based AeroParts Group. The Coltala Aerospace entity brings together three APG businesses—Evans Composites, APM, and ACD Consulting. Aeroparts Group is a platform focused on aerospace and defense industries. 

The Fort Worth ISD selected Dr. Karen Molinar as the lone finalist for its Superintendent position. She has served the district for 27 years and should be named the permanent Superintendent after serving as interim the past four months. Texas law requires school boards to wait 21 days after naming a lone finalist before voting to hire the candidate.

Grapevine-based GameStop filed a short press release saying it will pursue the sale of its operations in France and Canada. The company did not say how proceeds would be used or add additional comments. Estimates are the operations were approximately 25% of last quarter's $860.3 million in revenue. 

Neiman Marcus no longer is headquartered in Dallas. It served notice it was terminating its lease and would be headquartered in New York, home of its owner, Saks. In addition, Neiman’s is closing its flagship store in downtown Dallas, which opened in 1914. 

Yum! Brands, the restaurant company that owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill, is relocating the KFC corporate headquarters from Louisville to Plano, alongside the Pizza Hut global headquarters.

Fort Worth law firms Vartabedian Hester & Haynes and Forshey Prostok have merged under the former's name. Bankruptcy law co-founders Jeff Prostok and Robert Forshey join the firm as Partners, as do attorneys Lynda Lankford and Suzanne Rosen. Blake Berryman and Deidre Brown join the firm as Of Counsel, and Emily Chou as Counsel. 

Brad Barnes, the long-time president of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, told NBC-5 reporter Deborah Ferguson he would retire in April. 

Graceful Transitions, a remote service to offer organizational services for families that have lost a loved one, will launch March 1. Services include de-cluttering and sorting, home transitional services through Realtor partners, and providing contractors to help with maintenance and repairs. 

YouTube star and Austinite Joshua Weissman (10M+ followers) dined at 17 barbecue restaurants across Texas and crowned Fort Worth’s Goldee’s Barbecue as best in the state. See his rankings here.

The Parks Mall in south Arlington secured a refinancing package of $215 million, enabling ongoing renovations. The mall recently announced $45 million in changes -- re-purposing an 82,000-square-foot area and relocating Dick’s Sporting Goods into a 120,000-square-foot space.

At its annual meeting, Visit Fort Worth said the hospitality industry supported more than 30,000 jobs in 2024 and had an economic impact above $3.5 billion. Fort Worth welcomed 11.5 million visitors last year, generating $251 million in state and local taxes, a 47% increase in four years. Visit Fort Worth's Hospitality Award went to Pam Minick, highlighting her work with Speedway Children’s Charities, Friends of the Fort Worth Herd, Super Bowl Committee and the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

The 47th running of The Cowtown races are Saturday and Sunday (the Marathon) with thousands of runners expected. You can find a spot to cheer on the runners or avoid road closures by checking race maps.

Raymond Management Group, which has four hotels in the area, has a proposal into the city for a Marriott Springhill Suites at E. Vickery and S. Main in Fort Worth's Near Southside. 

Roanoke will hold a special election for a $62-million bond to construct a convention center where the Peabody Hotel was to be located. The bond includes costs for designing, constructing and equipping the facility. City officials said property taxes would not be raised, expecting the convention center to pay for itself using sales taxes from events.

Meacham International Airport was celebrated yesterday during a city work session. The airport was built as Fort Worth Airport in 1914 to support the Army. Fort Worth purchased the airport in July 1925 and changed the name to Meacham in 1927. 

Judge L. Clifford Davis, the first Black judge to be elected in Tarrant County and the civil rights lawyer who helped desegregate north Texas schools, has died at 100. He applied to the University of Arkansas, but was denied admission because of segregation policies. He said that is what motivated him to become a lawyer.

Investors haven’t been this pessimistic about stocks since 2023. Tumultuous policy changes, a potential trade war and sky-high stock prices have turned some investors bearish in 2025. (WSJ)

Two Tarrant County reps will lead the Texas version of DOGE. The Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee will be led by Southlake Republican Rep. Giovanni Capriglione. Rep. Democrat Salman Bhojani of Euless is the vice chairman. 

Texas, via Attorney General Ken Paxton, is part of a suit against New York, whose Climate Change Superfund Act would retroactively fine coal, natural gas, and oil producers $75 billion for emissions dating to 2000. The producers targeted do not have to operate in New York to be fined. States in the suit say it runs afoul of the federal Clean Air Act.

Believe it or not: Remember when robbers stopped trains to rob folks of jewelry? This group allegedly stole $440k of Nike shoes from a BNSF train.

Announcements:

• American Airlines:  Names Lucas Martin Senior Vice President of Sales, and Scott Laurence SVP-Commercial. Promotes Neil Geurin to VP of Sales.

• Project Partners: Promotes Corinne Fiagome to Vice President of Client Services and Wendy Williamson to Vice President of Operations.

• Walters, Balido & Crain: Adds attorney Neely Fortinberry as Of Counsel.

• Bourland Wall & Wenzel: Adds attorney Hannah Rees, who earned her J.D. from Texas A&M Law School in 2023.

• Greater Fort Worth Chapter of Public Relations Society of America: Names Reggie Johnson, UNTHSC, President;  Kay Colley, Texas Wesleyan, Vice President-membership/President-elect; and Cindy, Vasquez, UNTHSC, Vice President-programs. Click here for all board members. 

• Child Care Associates: Adds Nadia DiStefano as Senior Director of Development.

• Southwest Airlines: Hires Breeze Airways President Tom Doxey as its Chief Financial Officer.

• Quorum: Arthur Calcaterra has become shareholder and has been promoted to Sr. Associate. He was made Director of Retail and Entertainment Design in 2022.

• Fort Worth: Names Dave Lewis Director of Parks and Recreation, the first director change since Richard Zavala took charge 33 years ago.

• Teton Ridge: Appoints Ande Wall Senior Vice President of Programming and Content — sports programming, content strategy and oversight of The Cowboy Channel. She most recently was at the Longhorn Network (ESPN).

• Texas Wesleyan: Adds track coach Cedric Stewart from Fort Worth SW Christian.

• Regional Hispanic Contractors Association: Names Elizabeth Ponce-Garza Contractor of the Year.

817 Biz is formatted for viewing on mobile devices. If this email doesn’t look right, click the link at top right. Some links may expire after initial posting or be paywall protected.