Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
ECONOMY
The jobless rate held at 8% in Orange County in February, unchanged from the month prior and down from 8.9% a year earlier. OC added 9,100 jobs on a base of about 1.37 million to keep even with increases in the number of job seekers. The state jobless rate was 11.4% in February, and the U.S. unemployment rate was 8.7%.
ENERGY
Seal Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. signed an agreement on undisclosed terms to build fueling stations for a Florida transportation company’s fleet of natural gas-powered vehicles. The deal is its second with Saddle Creek Corp. in Lakeland, Fla.
GOVERNMENT
The Santa Ana City Council approved a proposed 278-unit apartment complex near the headquarters of First American Financial Corp. The Met at South Coast is expected to include three five-story buildings on 3.1 acres.
The San Juan Capistrano City Council agreed to a request by homebuilder Shea Homes—a division of Walnut-based developer J.F. Shea Co. Inc.—to begin the process of amending the city’s open-space rules to allow construction of 34 homes on the 20.6-acre site of a former equestrian facility. Public approval also will be necessary.
FINANCE
Wells Fargo & Co. will close its customer service center in Santa Ana. The bank has given 315 service-center employees 30 days to apply for openings elsewhere in Wells Fargo’s Southern California operations.
MetLife Inc. will lay off 118 workers in Irvine through May. The move is part of the company’s plan to shut down its nationwide mortgage operations and cut 4,000 jobs nationwide. MetLife announced its exit from the home loan business in January.
HEALTHCARE
San Clemente-based Cameron Health Inc. will have its implantable heart defibrillator reviewed by an FDA panel on April 26. Natick., Mass.-based Boston Scientific recently said it would acquire Cameron for $150 million plus more than $1 billion in potential milestone payments. An FDA approval would trig-ger $150 million in milestone money.
MEDIA
Irvine-based videogame company Blizzard Entertainment Inc. has begun promoting a planned fourth expansion to its World of Warcraft franchise. No release date has been set for Mists of Pandaria, which will feature peace-loving pandas and warring pets, according to the company.
REAL ESTATE
Wild Rivers Waterpark is in negotiations with Orange County planners regarding a new location on county-owned land. County supervisors are expected to vote on the plan in April, with an opening on a site near the Great Park development in Irvine targeted for 2014. Wild Rivers recently shut down at another location in Irvine when it lost its lease.
RETAIL
Videogame-store franchiser Play N Trade in San Clemente is combining with the Canadian chain Dimension Games, whose locations will be rebranded with Play N Trade signage. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
Private investors closed on the $126 million purchase of Cypress-based Real Mex Restaurants Inc., parent company to the Mexican-theme restaurant chains El Torito, Acapulco and Chevys Fresh Mex among others. Proceeds will be used in part to pay down debt.
TECHNOLOGY
Orlando-based API Technologies Corp. bought electronic-components maker RTI Electronics Inc. in Anaheim for $2.3 million in cash. There was no immediate word regarding any effect on RTI’s 100 employees. API said the acquisition “enhances its magnetic and film-capacitor product lines.”
Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. struck a deal to acquire a startup technology company in Israel for at least $200 million. BroadLight Ltd. makes chips and software for fiber optic broadband networks.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
MIXED: Orange County bankruptcy numbers. Filings by individuals and businesses rose 4.2% in February from January, and were about even with year-earlier totals. That compared with a 5.6% increase for individuals and businesses throughout the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s seven-county Central District, which includes OC, and a 19% rise nationwide.
