Charles Slacik, who helped Brea-based Beckman Coulter Inc. finance an $800 million acquisition in the wake of the financial meltdown, was among seven chief financial officers honored Wednesday.
Slacik led a $750 million bond and stock offering and a refinancing and expansion of the company’s $350 million credit line.
Beckman, which makes equipment and supplies for medical laboratories and researchers, used the proceeds to acquire the medical diagnostics business of Japan’s Olympus Corp., a deal that closed late last year.
The company’s stock and debt offerings were among the largest locally in the wake of Wall Street meltdown of late 2008 and early 2009 and were pulled off with no downgrade in Beckman’s credit rating.
Slacik was awarded the Public Company Award at the CFO of the Year awards presented by the Business Journal and the Orange County and Long Beach chapter of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.
The other honorees:
Sean McCarthy of Irvine-based Diedrich Coffee Inc. won the Transformation Agent Award. The seller of coffee to stores and restaurants has undergone a turnaround in the past year or so that led to a huge 2009 run-up on Wall Street and a $290 million pending buyout by Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.
Darrin Montalvo of Orange-based hospital operator St. Joseph Health System won the Not-for-Profit Organization Award. St. Joseph runs four local hospitals and has $4 billion in yearly revenue. Montalvo oversaw the conversion of $1.2 billion in bonds with rates set by investors in an auction process to debt with a combination of fixed and variable rates.
Jerry Morey of San Clemente-based Metagenics Inc. won the Private Company Award. He oversaw a series of acquisitions for the maker of vitamins and supplements for doctors, chiropractors, nutritionists and others. Last year, Ada, Mich.-based Alticor Inc., the parent of Amway, acquired Metagenics.
Bob Telles of Santa Ana-based Stearns Cos. won the Lifetime Achievement Award. In the past 10 years, Telles has helped rework accounting and procedures at the mortgage company. He also helped steer Stearns through the mortgage downturn that started in 2007.
Phong Truong of South County Senior Services of Laguna Woods and Mindy Weinheimer of Irvine’s Human Options won Community Services Awards.
