62.4 F
Laguna Hills
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
-Advertisement-

ADDENDUM – July 29, 2013

A U.S. District Court jury in Santa Ana found that Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. willfully infringed on World Marketing Inc.’s trademark. The dispute centered on Quiksilver’s former VSTR clothing line. World Marketing has sold its Visitor apparel line for more than 20 years.

The parent of Irvine-based Billabong USA completed new financing and the sale of its outdoor accessories brand Dakine. Australia-based Billabong International Ltd. recently announced it struck a deal with a group involving Palo Alto-based private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners and New York-based GSO Capital Partners on a $294 million bridge loan. Billabong agreed to sell Hood River, Ore.-based Dakine to Altamont for $64.5 million as part of the financing deal. The agreement ended a monthslong period of uncertainty for the action-sports apparel maker and retailer, which has seen multiple purchase offers. It had a recent market value of about $185.08 million.

The Santa Ana College Foundation gave $250,000 to the school’s scholarship campaign, matching the most recent donation by Allan and Sandy Fainbarg of Newport Beach. Santa Ana College is a two-year college that serves about 18,000 students each semester. It also operates the School of Continuing Education, which serves about 13,000 students. The latest donations, added to previous gifts by the Fainbargs and the foundation’s matching efforts, mark the first $1 million fund for Santa Ana College’s Allan and Sandy Fainbarg Scholarship Endowment Fund.

Venture capital funding rose in Orange County, and the number of deals increased in the second quarter. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association said in their recent The MoneyTree Report that $162 million was raised in 17 deals. Most of the money went to software and medical device companies, led by Vertos Medical Inc. in Aliso Viejo, which raised $22.8 million.

Sunwest Bank veteran Brian Constable joined Los Angeles-based Chinatrust Bank to head its retail banking business. Constable served as chief commercial banking officer at Irvine-based Sunwest for six years. Chinatrust, which focuses on Asian-American customers, operates 12 branches in California, New Jersey and New York. Its parent company, Chinatrust Commercial Bank Co. in Taiwan, has about $63 billion in total assets.

Irvine-based medical software maker Kareo Inc. acquired medical billing company Ecco Health in Las Vegas. Ecco employees, which number about three dozen, are expected to stay with the combined company, according to Kareo.

The city of Irvine rehired Rutan & Tucker LLP as its city attorney. The firm had served the city in that capacity since Irvine incorporated in 1971 until the City Council voted in March to end the contract. The council voted 3-2 last week in a closed session to again retain the firm, choosing it from among 13 applicants for the work. Mayor Steven Choi and Councilman Jeff Lalloway voted against the move. The council is scheduled to vote on a new contract on Aug. 13.

Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. is discontinuing kid’s meals and toys at its restaurants. The chain said last week that it will remove kid’s meals from restaurants systemwide by January. The crunchy taco, soft taco, bean burrito and cheese roll-up items on the kid’s meals menu will still be available once the discontinuation takes full effect. The company, which has nearly 6,000 restaurants nationally, said sales of kid’s meals are “not part of Taco Bell’s long-term brand strategy and have had an insignificant impact on system sales.”

Morgan Drexen, a Costa Mesa-based administrative support company for debt-settlement lawyers across the country, filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency is pressing the company to turn over consumer files as it investigates lawyers working with the company in relation to how they’re paid in bankruptcy cases, according to news reports. Morgan Drexen stores documents for the lawyers and their clients. The company is trying to stop the bureau from getting the documents, saying the agency is unconstitutional.

ECONOMIC INDICATOR

UP: Apartment rental rates at large complexes in Orange County, which saw a 4.2% increase in the second quarter from a year ago to an average of $1,671, according to RealFacts, a Bay Area apartment data provider. The latest increase continued a three-year upward trend in apartment rents here.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-