Apparel
A bankruptcy court judge approved Quiksilver Inc.’s settlement agreement with 26 former employees who were looking to collect about $7 million in severance pay, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Huntington Beach-based retailer emerged from bankruptcy a year ago under the ownership of Los Angeles-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management LP. The former employees, including then-Chief Executive Andy Mooney, parted ways with Quiksilver prior to the Chapter 11 filing on Sept. 15, 2015.
Education
California State University-Fullerton’s master of social work program has received more than $1 million in federal funding for the seventh consecutive year. The new funds will provide educational stipends of up to $18,500 per year for full-time students who commit to work for a minimum of two years in a public child welfare agency after graduation. Part-time students also are eligible to receive stipends.
Healthcare
Avenu Medical Inc. in San Juan Capistrano raised about $13.1 million through a private placement, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The development-stage medical device maker has set a target of $16.1 million for the funding, according to filings. Avenu develops single-use, image-guided catheters for hemodialysis patients.
Hospitality
The Sagamore Pendry Baltimore hotel is scheduled to open on March 20 in the Fells Point neighborhood of the city following the debut of the first Pendry in San Diego’s Gaslamp quarter this month. The San Diego location cost about $120 million and has 317 rooms; the Baltimore location cost about $60 million and has 128 rooms. Pendry is the urban lifestyle hotel brand of Montage International in Irvine, the parent company that manages the collection of Montage Resorts.
Real Estate
Newport Beach-based homebuilder William Lyon Homes said its namesake and founder, Gen. William Lyon, stepped down as a director of the company. Lyon, whose 94th birthday is next month, will continue to serve in the chairman emeritus role and be invited to attend board meetings in a nonvoting capacity, the company said. A replacement board member hadn’t been announced.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett put his longtime Laguna Beach home on the market for $11 million, according to news reports. He bought the second home in 1971 for $150,000. Buffett’s primary residence is in his native Nebraska. He said his first wife, Susan, who died in 2004, admired the six-bedroom Laguna Beach house, moving him to buy it, and that he’s remodeled it several times.
Retail
Retail developer Steve Craig was named chairman of the New Majority California’s Orange County chapter. The political organization, founded in 1998, bills itself as “a permanent counter-balance to entrenched special interests that block meaningful reform in California,” and supports “local and national inclusive, fiscally conservative candidates and causes, as well as those that further the goal of expanding the Republican Party.” Craig is chief executive of Newport Beach-based Craig Realty Group, which owns the Outlets at San Clemente and the Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles County, among other properties. He has been a member of New Majority California’s board of directors since 2015.
