Cypress-based Vans Inc. will benefit from parent V.F. Corp.’s announcement that the action-sports apparel and footwear brand will get a chunk of $30 million worth of marketing planned for this quarter. Other beneficiaries of the marketing infusion include Greensboro, N.C.-based V.F.’s The North Face outdoor brand and the company’s business in China.
Santa Ana-based Edison Mission Energy was acquired out of bankruptcy by NRG Energy Inc. for $2.64 billion. Edison Mission is a holding company that previously operated under the umbrella of Rosemead-based Edison International Inc. The Santa Ana unit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last year and has been working on a restructuring plan while operations continued at its facilities throughout the U.S. Edison Mission companies own and operate some 40 electricity-generating facilities. Princeton, N.J.-based NRG is among the largest independent electricity producers in the U.S.
Orange County-based businesses received $188.1 million in venture capital money in the third quarter, a 31% increase from the same time a year ago. The total went to 13 companies, compared with eight in the year-earlier period, according to a report from Dow Jones VentureSource. OC’s business-support services sector accounted for more than 70% of the total investment dollars, driven by a $93 million investment into Aliso Viejo-based Telogis Inc. in late September. Telogis makes navigation software that’s used by companies with large fleets of trucks.
Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration approved its request to market dermal filler Juvéderm Voluma XC for temporarily correcting age-related volume loss in adults’ cheeks.
State regulators fined Mission Hospital and St. Jude Medical Center $100,000 each over mistakes that led to the death or serious injury of patients. The incident at Mission Hospital involved a catheter being improperly removed from a patient’s neck, resulting in a heart attack. A patient who hospital staff were supposed to be watching died after falling at St. Jude. Irvine-based St. Joseph Health owns both hospitals.
Orange County will likely add jobs at a slightly faster clip next year, according to the latest economic analysis and forecast report by economists at California State University, Fullerton. The annual report estimated OC will wrap up this year with a gain of 28,200 jobs, or a 2% increase. That’s about in line with the pace of growth so far this year. OC as of August had 1,426,800 jobs, an increase of about 2% since January, according to data from the state Employment Development Department. Businesses in OC could add 35,900 jobs in 2014, marking a 2.5% year-over-year growth, the Cal State Fullerton study said.
Shares of CoreLogic Inc. surged to their highest-ever level last week after the Irvine-based provider of residential property information and analytics reported strong third-quarter earnings. CoreLogic’s reported revenues of $405.5 million, down 1% from year-ago levels due to a lower level of refinancing and foreclosure-related business, while net income from continuing operations came in at $50 million, up 38% from a year ago. Sales and net income outpaced analyst expectations in spite of a steep downturn in loan originations related to refinancing and a continued drop in loan delinquencies and foreclosures. Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi credited a focus on growth of higher margin business lines, improved efficiencies and disciplined capital management. CoreLogic’s stock was up nearly 16% in midday trading on Thursday for a market value of nearly $3 billion.
Six OC locales ranked among the top 100 most expensive places to live as compiled by Forbes and Altos Research. The zip codes were 92657 in Newport Coast, whose median residential listing was $3.7 million; 92661 and 92662 in Newport Beach; Corona del Mar’s 92625; 92651 in Laguna Beach; and 92603 in the Shady Canyon and Turtle Rock areas of Irvine.
Prosecutors were granted access to Orange County Fair Board documents related to some board members’ failed 2009 attempt to purchase the fairgrounds. The board unanimously voted to allow prosecutors to question the state attorney general’s office, its former legal counsel, about the effort. The waiving of attorney-client privilege also allows access to correspondence and other documents.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Sales at Orange County auto dealers in the third quarter, which saw a 9.1% increase compared to a year earlier, to 43,745 vehicles, according to the Newport Beach-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association.
