Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
Buena Park-based Los Angeles National Bank has been acquired by Royal Business Bank in Los Angeles in an all-cash deal at an undisclosed price. The sale is slated to close in the second quarter. Los Angeles National, which primarily serves the Chinese-American community, had $198.9 million in total assets at the end of September. Net income for the third quarter was $348,000. The bank has 38 employees at its single location. Royal Business, which also focuses on the Chinese-American community, had about $626.7 million in assets as of September. Net income for the quarter was $2.6 million. The latest deal follows Royal Business’ acquisition of Oxnard-based Ventura County Business Bank, which was completed in February.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., has been selected to receive the 2012 American Muslim Achievement Award from the Islamic Center of Southern California. El-Erian also is co-chief investment officer, alongside Bill Gross, at Pimco. The award recognizes El-Erian’s “achievements in the fields of finance, global investment management strategies, and matters related to the global economy,” according to the Islamic Center. El-Erian recently was tapped by President Barack Obama to chair the U.S. Global Development Council. He also serves on the board of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
San Clemente-based VertiFlex Inc. received Food and Drug Administration clearance for two spinal implant devices. VertiFlex is a venture-backed company that was founded in 2005. Investors include San Francisco-based Aberdare Ventures and Alta Partners, along with Stamford, Conn.-based Thomas, McNerney & Partners.
Mission Viejo-based Ensign Group Inc. acquired a home healthcare provider and a hospice operator in separate deals. The company—which owns and operates nursing homes in addition to home healthcare businesses and hospices—acquired Puget Sound Home Health, a home healthcare provider based in Tacoma, Wash. It also bought Emblem Hospice, a unit of Clive, Iowa-based Saint Jude Healthcare LLC. Emblem Hospice has operations in Pasadena as well as Mesa, Ariz.
Santa Ana-based Wahoo’s Fish Taco plans to open a restaurant in Japan, its first location outside the U.S. The store will be operated by a franchisee and is set to open later this year, the company said. Wahoo’s has more than 60 locations nationally, with more than half of them in Southern California. About half of the locations are operated by franchisees. Last year saw the opening of the company’s first East Coast location, in New York City.
The 25-year-old Ruby’s Diner at the Seal Beach pier closed after Irvine-based Ruby Restaurant Group was unable to come to an agreement with the city on a lease renewal, according to reports. Ruby’s has nearly 40 restaurants, with an estimated $40 million in annual revenue. Most of its restaurants are in California, including locations on the Balboa and Huntington Beach piers.
The Albertsons grocery store chain—which has its Southern California division headquarters in Fullerton and 35 stores throughout Orange County—is being sold as part of a $3.3 billion deal that includes four other chains. Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc. said it will sell Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Star Market to an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP. The Cerberus affiliate, called AB Acquisition LLC, is led by a group of investors that includes New York real estate investment trust Kimco Realty Corp., among others.
Jason Lucash, the cofounder of a portable audio products maker OrigAudio in Costa Mesa, was named emerging entrepreneur of 2012 by the UPS Store and Entrepreneur magazine. Lucash and partner Mike Szymczak have overseen the company’s growth to about $4 million in revenue in a little more than a year.
Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Richard Luehrs said he will retire this week after three decades of running the organization. The decision comes in the wake of the chamber’s decision to oppose a boycott of the annual Christmas Boat Parade in Newport Harbor. Some residents of the area called for the boycott to protest a hike in fees they pay for the use of docks.
Federal authorities arrested five former employees of Excel Investments in Santa Ana and affiliated companies on charges that they defrauded lenders out of millions of dollars in a mortgage scheme. All five are scheduled for trial on March 5 and could face up to 30 years in prison.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Sales of small and midsize businesses in Orange County in 2012, when 1,534 enterprises changed hands, a 17% increase over the year prior, according to BizBen.com. The gain came with a 69% increase for December compared with a year earlier, as many business owners decided to sell in advance of tax changes expected for this year.
