FINANCE
Bloomington, Minn.-based accounting firm McGladrey & Pullen LLP completed a $610 million acquisition of RSM McGladrey Inc. from H&R Block Inc. The acquisition reunites the two McGladrey entities, which separated a decade ago. Don Natenstedt, an Irvine-based McGladrey & Pullen veteran, was named to oversee the firm’s western operations as regional managing partner.
Newport Beach-based Independence Bank opened its fourth office in Tustin. The bank also has offices in Fountain Valley and San Juan Capistrano.
GOVERNMENT
The City of Irvine has a $14.4 million surplus in its general fund and will give year-end bonuses of $500 to full-time workers and $250 and $100 to part-timers. The bonuses will cost the city $450,000; the balance of the surplus will go to certain projects and a reserve fund.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based eye-device maker AcuFocus Inc. got $65 million in a round of funding from an investment group led by Cowen Royalty Health-care Partners of Stamford, Conn. AcuFocus makes a device that’s implanted in a patient’s cornea to correct presbyopia, a condition that occurs in most adults and causes a dependence on reading glasses. Others in the investment group include Medtronic Inc., a Minnesota device maker with operations in Irvine and Santa Ana; Rochester, N.Y.-based Bausch & Lomb Inc., which has an eye surgery hub in Aliso Viejo; and Versant Venture Management LLC, which has a Newport Beach office.
MANUFACTURING
Newport Beach-based electric-car distributor Green Automotive Co. said it plans to begin U.S. distribution next year. The company plans to open a safety assessment center in Shanghai to help Chinese manufacturers bring vehicles into compliance with U.S. regulations. A spokesperson said the company, which went public in September in a reverse merger with Matter of Time I Inc., has yet to take in any revenue and absorbed $3.3 million in start-up costs.
MEDIA
Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts detailed plans for a $100 million Filmmakers’ Village project on 3.5 acres at its campus in Orange. Construction is expected to start early next year, with completion expected in 2013. The aim is to create what officials dubbed an “immersive environment for film students.” It will feature three dormitories, a parking garage, food areas, meeting facilities and a gym, all linked digitally to the film school’s main building across the street. The project is being funded with a bond issued through the California Educational Facilities Authority.
REAL ESTATE
Newport Beach-based developer Greenlaw Partners LLC, whose $46 million offer for Crystal Cathedral’s 44-acre campus started the bidding for property, has filed a claim for a $920,000 break-up fee. A bankruptcy judge ultimately approved a $57.5 million offer for the cathedral and its campus by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County. Separately, Pope Benedict XVI approved the acquisition plan.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
MIXED: Equity levels for homeowners in Orange County in the third quarter, when 17.6% had mortgages higher than their home’s value, according to Santa Ana-based data researcher CoreLogic Inc. There were 98,069 residential mortgages underwater here, or 17.6% of the total. That’s up slightly from the prior quarter and down slightly from a year earlier. 22.1% of mortgages nationally were underwater in the period, according to CoreLogic.
