Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
Tilly’s Inc. lowered its guidance on year-end financial results, as the action-sports retailer cited “recent variability in sales trends” as reining in profit and sales expectations. The Irvine-based company projected a profit of $23.5 million to $24.5 million for 12 months through January amid a 2.5% rise in same-store sales. That compares with the company’s previous full-year guidance of $23.5 million to $25.1 million in profit and 4% to 5% growth in same-store sales.
Steve Wilburn, chief executive of Newport Beach-based renewable energy provider FirmGreen Inc., was named to a 17-member advisory committee of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which helps finance the export of domestic goods and services to international markets. FirmGreen is involved in a project in Brazil that will convert landfill into fuel.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rescheduled a previously planned hearing on the condition of the shut San Onofre nuclear plant for Nov. 30. Both generators at the plant have been offline since January after a radioactive leak.
Newport Beach City Council scheduled a Nov. 28 meeting to hear public comment on a city proposal to raise residential dock fees. The proposal—which would change the fee system from a flat $100 to a charge of 52.5 cents per square foot—follows a previous move to raise rents for commercial docks and marinas.
Ownership control of Newport Beach-based Alliant Insurance Services is changing hands from one New York-based investment firm to another. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has agreed to buy a majority stake in the insurance broker from Blackstone Group on undisclosed terms. Alliant employees hold a 45% stake in the company that’s mostly being rolled over. The majority ownership change is the second in five years for Alliant, following Blackstone’s 2007 deal to acquire the company for a reported $1.1 billion.
Santa Ana-based NeoCell Corp. will move its headquarters to a building at 17500 Gillette Ave. in Irvine that it bought for $4.1 million. The nutritional-supplement maker received a Small Business Administration-guaranteed loan from Union Bank to purchase the 34,000-square-foot building.
A 3.6-acre gated estate dubbed Village Crean is for sale in Newport Bayview for $19.8 million. The property includes a 15,000-square-foot main house with 10 guest suites. It was built in 1990 by the late John Crean, who amassed a fortune in the recreational-vehicles business, and his wife Donna, who died in July.
Huntington Beach City Council approved plans to convert two former Fountain Valley School District sites into a 130-home development by Irvine-based Tri Pointe Homes. Forty-nine homes will be built on the site of the former Wardlow School and the balance on the site of the former Lamb School.
Vancouver, Canada-based Absolute Software Corp. bought Newport Beach-based LiveTime Software, a provider of IT services, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at almost $15 million. Absolute specializes in mobile-tech management.
Anaheim-based Magnolia Bird Farm Inc. announced a voluntary recall of products with possible salmonella risks. Recalled products include Magnolia’s bird seed mixes and in-shell peanuts. The recall follows a peanuts recall in September by New Mexico-based Sunland Inc.
New York-based accounting firm Ernst & Young named three OC executives to its list of 2012 Entrepreneurs of the Year: Joe Kiani, founder of Irvine-based medical-device maker Masimo Corp.; Michael Morhaime, cofounder of Irvine-based videogame developer Blizzard Entertainment; and Gary Jabara, founder of Newport Beach-based cellular-technology company Mobilitie. The executives among 10 national honorees in the firm’s annual entrepreneurs program, selected from 244 regional winners.`
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: There were 47% fewer home foreclosures in October than a year earlier, Irvine-based RealtyTrac said. Last month marked a 14% downtick in foreclosures from September. Meantime, there was a 59% increase from September in OC foreclosure cancellations by mortgage lenders, according to Stockton-based Foreclosure Radar. That was the biggest month-to-month increase in six years.
