🏀NCAA in love with Fort Worth; Multatech, KPS acquired; Gary Fickes, Jeff Keyser honored.

Fort Worth-based Multatech Engineering has been acquired by civil engineering, planning and environmental firm Lochmueller Group, based in Indiana. Multatech is a full-service engineering firm for a variety of projects, including railroad infrastructure, transportation and municipal design, and utility infrastructure. Lochmueller is looking to grow and diversify its market area, client base and service offerings.

The Stayton at Museum Way, a senior living facility with $112 million of municipal debt, filed a pre-packaged bankruptcy to execute a bond refinancing and reduce debt to $81m. The Stayton, which filed bankruptcy in Nov. 2019, listed estimated assets and debts of $100m-$500m and plans to issue a series of bonds to exchange debt issued in 2020. Those bonds are trading around 44 cents on the dollar.

The Viessmann Generations Group, a 107-year-old German company, has acquired Fort Worth-based KPS Global, a leading provider of custom enclosures for controlled environments. Since its creation by D Cubed Group in 2015, KPS has been the clear leader throughout the food retail end market and expanded significantly into the scientific and cold storage markets. The company has five manufacturing facilities and more than 850 employees.

The host with the most: Fort Worth has been selected by the NCAA to host the 2027 Division I Men's Basketball First and Second Rounds at Dickies Arena. It will be the second time as host of the opening two rounds, having done so in 2022.

Fort Worth and Dickies also have been selected to host the NCAA Women's National Collegiate Gymnastics Championship in 2027, the ninth year in succession. According to the Fort Worth Sports Commission, it generated an estimated 12,000 room nights from 8,500 visitors this year and $8 million in economic impact.

Jeff Keyser, a biosciences innovator in north Texas, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Dennis K. Stone Award by BioNTX, a bioscience and healthcare innovation organization. Keyser is President and CEO of Renibus Therapeutics and Chairman of the board for Lantern Pharma. He also co-founded ZS Pharma, which was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2015 for $2.7 billion, and invented the Mucinex product line.

Gary Fickes, who is retiring Dec. 1 after 18 years of service as the Tarrant County Precinct 3 Commissioner, got a gift from fellow commissioners. They voted to rename the county's northeast courthouse to the Gary Fickes Northeast Courthouse.

Cx Precision Medicine, a TechFW member that has developed AI-powered blood tests for neurodegenerative diseases, has been selected to be part of the StartUp Health Alzheimer’s Moonshot Program. It is a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and Gates Ventures, the private office of Bill Gates, that brings together companies and individuals to drive innovation and collaboration for the Alzheimer's community.

JLL has acquired Raise Commercial Real Estate and added technology to its platform that continues to build out its digital leasing capabilities. Terms weren't disclosed.

BoardBuild and the University of Texas at Arlington have launched two courses for five hours of continuing education credits. They are The Essentials of Nonprofit Board Governance and Governance with Equity.

The Emmy-nominated PBS docuseries ‘Start Up’ debuted its new season last Saturday with 13 D-FW small businesses, including these Tarrant County companies:

• Ampersand, a coffee shop that turns into a bar/lounge in the evening.

• Magdalena’s Catering and Events, a family-owned catering company in Fort Worth specializing in Mexican and American cuisine.

• Veterans Moving America, a Fort Worth-based moving company founded to support veterans by providing them employment opportunities after their service.

• Mansfield Funeral Home and Cremations, a woman-owned funeral home.

• Revitalize Charging Solutions, a Fort Worth company selling EV charging stations for residential and commercial use.

• The Blok Climbing Co., a Fort Worth-based bouldering gym.

Music to their ears: Pink Floyd is selling its recorded music, name and likeness rights to Sony Music for $400 million, one of the largest deals for an artist’s library. The band may have had a premonition with its 1973 hit ‘Money’. (video)

News about booze: The data isn’t timely, but here are the top 10 sellers of alcohol in Tarrant County for the month of June, according to Bar Mart:

1. Texas Rangers Ballpark, Arlington, $4,683,634

2. Backyard/Texas Live, Arlington, $2,100,023

3. Gaylord Texan, Grapevine, $1,689,775

4. Billy Bob’s Texas, Fort Worth, $1,012,541

5. AT&T Stadium, Arlington, $965,334

6. Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, $764,178

7. Joe T Garcia’s, Fort Worth, $736,138

8. Hotel Drover, Fort Worth, $681,925

9. Second Rodeo Brewing, Fort Worth, $650,582

10. Loews Hotel, Arlington $557,587

Mike Sweet, president of Ben E. Keith Foods announced General Mills has been named its Supplier of the Year.

Correction: The $25-million Baker Martin Family Garden at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden will open in mid-2026 and not 2025. 

Snippets:

• Fort Worth-based Yesway convenience stores detail ongoing expansion plans. 

• The Cliburn has launched a management agency that will represent rising classical musicians. 

• Guyana signed a $16-million contract with Bell Textron for two advanced rotary-wing aircraft. 

• The last day to register to vote is Monday, October 7. Learn more here.

• 14 golf courses in Fort Worth with the best greens fees according to a sports blog.

Believe it not: Mark Cuban drunkenly called American Airlines after selling his first company — and bought a lifetime flight pass for $125,000.

Daily digit: Hurricane Helene and other storms dumped over 40 trillion gallons of rain on the Southeast, enough to fill AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, 51,000 times, experts say.

Announcements: 

• Forestar Group: Promotes Carrie Cappel to Region VP - North Texas. 

• Texas Health Care Bone & Joint Clinic: Adds Dr. Gary Driver, a foot and ankle surgeon.

• Oppenheimer & Co.: Names Todd Wiggins Regional Director of D-FW. 

• Colonial Savings: Names Donna Dempsey acting CFO.

• Adams State University: Hires Florencio Urias Aranda III as Executive Equity Officer. Had been at Tarleton State since June 2023.

• Copperhead Creative: Founder and COO Sabrina Renteria launches agency.

• Mosaic: Promotes Katie Anderson to General Counsel.

• Vertess: Hires Christine Bartel as Managing Director.

• Primerica: Adds Alexis Ruddock as Registered Financial Professional.

Poll results from the last issue: Which economic indicator do you consider most important when evaluating the U.S. economy? Answers: Inflation/cost of living (59%), interest rates (7%), wages (2%), GDP (13%), stock market (4%), and unemployment (15%).