[Blazer85]

BIRMINGHAM

- Regions (#312)
- Saks (#570) [in the process of relocating to New York]
- Vulcan Materials (#595)
- HealthSouth (#637)
- Compass Bancshares (#686)
- Protective Life (700)

DOTHAN

- Movie Gallery (#734)

MONTGOMERY

- Colonial Bancgroup (#966)



Definitely been some cherry-picking over the last several years to the point where relatively few actually remain from once was a strong point...particularly for Birmingham with now just 1 Fortune 500 company remaining. Saks will soon be gone too. Hopefully we won't lose any of the others and they'll continue to grow. Also would be nice to gain another few large corporations, though I'm not sure how likely that would be.

[BKOTH97]

It is a pretty sad state of affairs. Just by sheer averages, we should have 20 companies in that list. Huntsville has grown a significant number of companies, but they always get bought by a larger defense contractor when they get to the right size. I don't know where the next Fortune 1000 Alabama company will come from.

I would say that we could end up losing more from that list.

Regions / Compass are probably prime for merger and acquisition (based on history with banking)

Movie Gallery is on shaky ground as Video Rental in physical stores is on its way out. VoD / Downloadable content will continue to eat into their business model (unless there is something they are doing that I don't know about).

I have no idea what will happen to HealthSouth, but things haven't been so good lately.

All in all a poor outlook for Alabama based corporations. We should be attempting to lure companies from high cost of living locations like California by touting lower operating and labor costs and selling the high tech talent pool in Huntsville and the Medical talent pool in Birmingham.

[Blazer85]

Regions is one of the Top 10 largest banks in the US... very few banks can or would buy them. So while it's certainly possible, I would by no means call it likely.

Compass was recently purchased by Banco-Bilbao (one of the largest banks in the world that's based out of Spain). In the short term, they plan to keep Compass here, but that could change down the road. No matter what happens, it definitely highly unlikely Compass will be bought out unless Banco-Bilbao is willing to sell it. Banco-Bilbao is a HUGE bank, so pretty much it will be their call on whether they sell it at a later date or decide to keep it within their corporation. In short, few US banks could afford Compass at this point.

I would look for a biotech company to be the next Alabama company among the Fortune 1000. Biotech is a growing industry and has alot of potential to make alot of money. There are alot of big-time corporations/companies in Alabama (Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai, etc.), but obviously they don't have their corporate HQ here. As for Fortune 500 companies, Vulcan Materials might be the next one. They're pretty close now and have been pretty active in growing and acquiring smaller companies.

Really, this list has little to do with our economy seeing as how our economy is in tremendous shape now. Probably hurts the state more in terms of perception than it does in terms of actual raw numbers.

[BKOTH97]

It looks like Wolverine Tube (Huntsville) was just outside of the rankings. They had 1.4B in revenue last year and the cutoff was 1.46B.

[BKOTH97]

Really, this list has little to do with our economy seeing as how our economy is in tremendous shape now. Probably hurts the state more in terms of perception than it does in terms of actual raw numbers.

Completely agree with you on the economy, but perception is the biggest thing holding Alabama back at this point (well, except for the Birmingham Mayor and City Council ;) ). We need all the boosts in perception that we can get!

[thoraudio]

Wait... didn't I see that Colonial made that list? Like in the 990's? Lemme look.

966.

List here (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/states/AL.html)

Colonial (surprisingly to me) is a top 30 bank... I'm glad for them... but afraid they are gonna be buyout bait.

[BKOTH97]

Wait... didn't I see that Colonial made that list? Like in the 990's? Lemme look.

It did:

Colonial Bancgroup 966 1,644.8 Montgomery

[AlabamaGuy2007]

That's actually better than I thought it would be. After hearing all these mergers and aquisitions flying around, I thought that Alabama's economic pride would have taken a HUGE dive. It's still not great, but, it's better than it could be.

[Brown Duckz]

Hah, Colonial is putting Montgomery on the map. :banana:

Where are the Huntsville and Mobile's Fortune 1000 companies? Just kidding.

On a side note.. is the steel manufacturer that's looking into Mobile as a new home a Fortune 500?

[Blazer85]

Hmm... guess the Birmingham Business Journal missed Colonial... I'll update the list.

[BKOTH97]

Where are the Huntsville and Mobile's Fortune 1000 companies? Just kidding.

On a side note.. is the steel manufacturer that's looking into Mobile as a new home a Fortune 500?

Huntsville has Wolverine Tube, which was just outside the Fortune 1000. I thought Adtran might be close, but they are not. They are only in the 500M a year range. SCI would have been in there, but they were purchased by Sanmina (and are now #25).

ThyssenKrupp is a German company and as such is not part of the Fortune rankings.

[thoraudio]

Hah, Colonial is putting Montgomery on the map. :banana:

Where are the Huntsville and Mobile's Fortune 1000 companies? Just kidding.

On a side note.. is the steel manufacturer that's looking into Mobile as a new home a Fortune 500?

ThyssenKrupp would be on the Global 2000 list, not the Fortune 1000.

They are based out of Germany, and are 194 on the Global 2000 list.

[Blazer85]

ThyssenKrupp would be on the Global 2000 list, not the Fortune 1000.

They are based out of Germany, and are 194 on the Global 2000 list.

Yes, but I'm not including companies like that. They won't have their HQ in the US... it will just be a plant. Much like Honda, Hyundai, etc. Same would go for Isuzu if they build that plant in Birmingham. Which is why I say our economy is doing great even if we don't have alot of large home-grown corporations.

[thoraudio]

I know... just pointing that out to Brown Duckz...

[Brown Duckz]

I know... just pointing that out to Brown Duckz...Thanks Chief! Gotta rep the M-Town :tup:

[pkp]

I think Regions will be bought out within three years - i will predict Wells Fargo or US Bank - there are not any more inbred third cousins to put together shitty mergers with, and the branch presence in several key markets is attractive.

[Blazer85]

I think Regions will be bought out within three years - i will predict Wells Fargo or US Bank - there are not any more inbred third cousins to put together shitty mergers with, and the branch presence in several key markets is attractive.

You don't often see Top 10 banks buying up other Top 10 banks. Possible? Yes. Likely? Not at all. I've seen too much from Regions that would indicate just the opposite. They've actually been very active in growing their foothold through acquisitions. They've also pledged some big money into Birmingham over long periods... again, not the move of a bank making themselves ripe for plucking. Usually Top 10 banks look to moderately-sized banks... like the 25-50th largest banks is generally a pretty good range to look at. Birmingham lost several that were in that range (SouthTrust, Compass, and then AmSouth which merged with Regions). I would be VERY surprised if Regions is bought out... especially within 3 years.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

You don't often see Top 10 banks buying up other Top 10 banks. Possible? Yes. Likely? Not at all. I've seen too much from Regions that would indicate just the opposite. They've actually been very active in growing their foothold through acquisitions. They've also pledged some big money into Birmingham over long periods... again, not the move of a bank making themselves ripe for plucking. Usually Top 10 banks look to moderately-sized banks... like the 25-50th largest banks is generally a pretty good range to look at. Birmingham lost several that were in that range (SouthTrust, Compass, and then AmSouth which merged with Regions). I would be VERY surprised if Regions is bought out... especially within 3 years.

I think you're right. I don't see it likely that Regions will be bought out. If so, it'll be a very long time. I think Regions is gonna continue to aquire smaller banks and expand even more. They have more of a sense of pride of where they come from than most banks.

[Blazer85]

I think you're right. I don't see it likely that Regions will be bought out. If so, it'll be a very long time. I think Regions is gonna continue to aquire smaller banks and expand even more. They have more of a sense of pride of where they come from than most banks.

I agree. And most speculate this is why AmSouth and Regions merged... in order to prevent or eliminate most potential mergers. By merging together (as two hometown banks), they greatly lessened the ability for either one of them to be bought out by other banks. Few banks could afford Regions. Even the ones that COULD afford it might not be able to make it worth it for Regions. Also, I would imagine the costs simply in trying to consolidate and merge two Top 10 banks would be absolutely huge. I just don't see it any time soon. I was growing a little worried, but once Regions made their committment to the community and also merged with AmSouth, alot of those concerns have been calmed.