Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. confirmed changes to its lineup of brands. The company’s Quiksilver brand will exit the women’s business. The VSTR menswear brand, launched with Quiksilver-sponsored surfer Kelly Slater, was closed last month. Management of the Summer Teeth brand was transferred back to owner Dane Reynolds, another Quiksilver-sponsored surfer. The moves on the various brands are part of a larger restructuring at Quiksilver focused on centralizing operations of its Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific businesses.
Newport Beach-based private equity firm Windjammer Capital Investors closed its fourth investment fund with more than $726 million in capital commitments. Fundraising for Windjammer Senior Equity Fund IV began in August after the firm closed out its third fund with the acquisition of insurance company Global Claims Services Inc. from the Riverside Co., a New York-based private equity firm. Windjammer now has about $2 billion in capital commitments across its four funds.
San Clemente-based medical device maker VertiFlex Inc. sold what it called “non-core assets” to Stryker Corp. in Kalamazoo, Mich., on undisclosed terms. VertiFlex said it received up-front cash to go with future contingent payments and a long-term licensing agreement. VertiFlex makes less-invasive medical devices for treating a range of spinal diseases. It received Food and Drug Administration clearance in January for two of its spinal implants.
The Automobile Association of America (AAA) gave Five Diamond rankings—its highest—to a number of Orange County hotels, including; Resort at Pelican Hill; The Island Hotel; St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa; Ritz-Carlton and Montage Laguna Beach. OC hotels earning Four Diamonds were: Blue Lantern Inn; Waterfront Beach Resort; Surf and Sand Resort; Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa; Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach; Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa; Balboa Bay Resort; Fairmont Newport Beach; and Disneyland Hotel.
William Lyon Homes has created a new executive chairman position for the Newport Beach-based homebuilding company’s founder and namesake, Gen. William Lyon, who is turning over the chief executive role at the company to his son. Bill H. Lyon, previously the president and chief operating officer of the iconic builder, now has the chief executive role at the company, which underwent a major financial restructuring last year. The younger Lyon had served as president and COO since 2009, and has worked with the company and its predecessors since 1997. Executive Vice President Matthew Zaist is taking over the president and COO roles at the company from the younger Lyon. Gen. Lyon, who just turned 90, will continue to serve as chairman of the board of the company, which now is majority-owned by several private equity firms that are expected to take the builder public within the next three years.
Aliso Viejo-based Johnny Rockets Restaurant Group Inc. inked a franchise agreement that will take the diner chain to India. The agreement calls for at least 20 Johnny Rockets to be opened in India by franchisee Prime Gourmet Private Ltd. The deal calls for the restaurants to open over the next several years. Planned locations include New Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon, among other cities. Johnny Rockets, with roughly 300 locations in the U.S. and internationally, has been rapidly expanding its international presence since last year. The push comes as the company’s owner, McLean, Va.-based private equity firm RedZone Capital Co., explores a possible sale of the chain. It has hired San Francisco-based advisory firm North Point Advisors.
Orange County saw 43.79 million visitors in 2012, a gain of 2.1% from a year earlier, according to the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau. New Bureau President and Chief Executive Jay Burress said international visitors accounted for 10% of the total number of visitors to Orange County. China sent the most international visitors with 517,000, a 29% increase.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Home prices in Newport Coast, where the median has risen 76.2% to $3.4 million since the first quarter of 2009, generally deemed to be the bottom of the recent recession, according to La Jolla-based market research firm DataQuick Information Services. The Newport Coast zip code of 92657 was among the top 10 in Southern California in terms of gains in the median price over the period.
