Bob McKnight will step down as president and chief executive of Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., with those posts at the surf and skate apparel brand going to Andy Mooney, a former chairman of consumer products for Walt Disney Co. and marketing executive at Nike Inc. McKnight founded Quiksilver in 1976 and has served as chief executive since 1991. Quiksilver has about $2 billion in annual sales. Its products are sold at a wide range of retailers and 600 of its own stores. Mooney’s experience prior to Disney included a 20-year run at Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike, where he held a number of positions including chief financial officer of the UK business and chief marketing officer. McKnight said that Quiksilver launched a search for his successor about a year ago.
Costa Mesa-based Hyundai Motor America Inc. and Irvine-based sister company Kia Motors America Inc. are among several automakers that will add software from Google Inc. to bring drivers more search functions in their vehicles.
Anaheim-based Fisker Automotive Inc. is suing its insurer over a denial of a claim of $33 million in damages to 338 of its luxury hybrid Karma sedans during Hurricane Sandy in October. The cars were at the Port Newark Container Terminal, set for shipment to dealers, when the storm struck.
A bankrupt Santa Ana-based unit of Edison International has been sued by Chevron Corp. affiliates. The suit claims that Edison Mission Energy unfairly rejected a buyout offer and is now forcing them to take on unwanted partners in their joint ventures. San Ramon-based Chevron’s affiliates are partners in two cogeneration joint ventures with Edison Mission Energy.
Anaheim-based drug maker Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreeed to buy BioVectra Inc., a contract manufacturer based in Canada. Questcor will pay about $51 million for BioVectra, with another $51 million in potential milestone payments.
Huntington Beach Hospital has converted to not-for-profit status from for-profit status. Prime Healthcare Services, the Ontario-based parent company of 131-bed Huntington Beach, said it donated the hospital to Prime Healthcare Foundation effective Jan. 1.
Santa Ana-based Universal Protection Service acquired the security officer services division of T&M Protection Resources LLC in New York on undisclosed terms. Universal Protection is part of Universal Services of America in Santa Ana. The parent company had about $396 million in revenue for a 12-month span through June. It has 2,072 employees here and 19,313 overall. This deal gives Universal Protection a foothold in the Northeastern U.S.
Irvine-based pathology services provider PathCentral sold its diagnostic laboratory business to Ascend Clinical LLC in Redwood City on undisclosed terms. PathCentral Chief Executive Matt Watson will take an executive position with Ascend, which operates a renal-disease testing lab that serves dialysis clinics.
Newport Beach-based aircraft leasing company Aviation Capital Group Corp. placed a $6 billion order with Boeing Co. for 60 aircraft, including two types of its new 737 Max model. Aviation Capital is a subsidiary of Pacific Life Insurance Co. in Newport Beach. It has a fleet of 240 planes and leases to about 90 airlines in 40 countries.
November passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport increased 6.4% from a year earlier to 750,800. Southwest Airlines and its subsidiary AirTran Airways were the busiest airlines for the month, with combined passenger traffic of 304,392. United Airlines (118,733) was second, followed by American Airlines (93,873). November air cargo increased 11.3% from a year earlier to 1,522 tons.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: The outlook on bankruptcies in Orange County in November, when 1,067 individuals and businesses filed cases, the lowest monthly total in nearly four years. It was a 21.8% decline from a year earlier, and a 14.4% drop from the prior month. Los Angeles County saw a 17.4% dip in filings to 3,175 cases in November compared with a year ago. The Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino posted a 22.4% decline, to 2,091 cases.
