Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
The parent of Irvine-based Billabong USA and several other local apparel and accessory brands confirmed the company received an alternative refinancing package from two U.S. hedge funds. Australia-based Billabong International Ltd. said its board is considering the Centerbridge Partners LP and Oaktree Capital Management LP offer, which includes a $121.51 million equity placement and refinancing of a $292.53 million bridge loan Billabong recently got in a deal with a group led by Palo Alto-based Altamont Capital Partners and GSO Capital Partners.
National recruiter Accounting Principals ranked Irvine the fourth-best U.S. city to land a job in the finance industry. The company considered cities’ job openings and economic environment when compiling the rankings. Dallas ranked No. 1, Houston No. 2 and San Francisco No. 3.
Wells Fargo Bank will lay off 330 employees from its mortgage business in its Costa Mesa and Santa Ana offices. The move is driven primarily by “slower demand for mortgage refinancing,” according to a bank spokesperson. Employees will collect pay and benefits for the next 60 days, and the bank is expected to help place the workers in other positions at the bank. Operations will continue at the two Orange County locations, according to the spokesperson.
Irvine medical device maker Ivantis Inc. raised $5 million in a second round of venture funding and will use the money to support three multinational clinical trials for its Hydrus microstent, which is implanted into the eye to treat glaucoma. The device maker said it would also use some of the money to support its activities in the Asia-Pacific market. EDBI, a Singaporean firm, led the round’s close. Ivantis said the new money brings the total second round of funding to $32.5 million.
Lake Forest-based Del Taco LLC signed deals with seven groups that are expected to account for 39 new restaurants over the next 10 years. The restaurants are planned for California, Colorado and Georgia, among other states. Del Taco, which has more than 550 restaurants, said it hopes to make additional franchise deals to expand in several markets and regions across the U.S.
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. regained compliance to trade on the Nasdaq stock market, The Lake Forest-based company had been in jeopardy of a delisting for failing to meet the exchange’s minimum $1 bid price for 10 consecutive days, but its July 30 reverse stock split seems to have quelled those concerns. The split of its common stock, which combined four shares into one, propped up its share price to more than $2, where it has been traded for the past two weeks. Quantum reported second quarter sales of $6.1 million, up nearly 13% from a year earlier. It posted a net loss of $4.5 million, compared to a net loss of $7 million a year ago.
Irvine-based RED Digital Cinema Camera Co. Chief Jim Jannard said he’s stepping out of the limelight and handing that duty over to President Jarred Land. Jannard said he will “no longer be the face of RED” and that he will instead “work on the future of digital cinema … behind the scenes” at the company he founded nearly eight years ago. RED makes digital still and motion cameras, with a manufacturing facility in Irvine where it employs more than 400 people, along with RED Studios in Hollywood. Jannard said he’ll now focus solely on new camera technology.
Condé Nast deemed the home of the Happiest Place on Earth to be the country’s “ninth-coldest” city when it comes to the hearts of its residents. The magazine publisher’s Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Survey found Anaheim residents among the unfriendliest in the U.S. It ranked Los Angeles 6th on the list, with Sacramento in the No. 10 spot. The frostiest? Newark, N.J.
Inc. magazine says seven of the Los Angeles metropolitan area’s 10 fastest-growing private companies are in Orange County. The publication ranks 500 U.S. companies based on how fast their revenue increased over the previous three years. Three of the OC-based companies made the top 100, including No. 47 29 Prime and No. 58 eGumball, both search engine optimization companies, along with No. 78 Janes Capital Partners, an investment bank focused on the defense and aerospace sector. All three have headquarters in Irvine.
