ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: OC’s median home price, which dropped $3,000 in February from January, while sales increased by 173 homes for the period, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.
TOP STORIES
First American Corp. continues to shore up plans to separate its title insurance business and information services unit with the appointment of executives and plans to absorb all of another subsidiary. The Santa Ana-based company named Anand K. Nallathambi chief executive and Buddy Piszel chief financial officer of its in-
formation solutions group, which provides real estate and other data to businesses. First American also intends to buy the remaining 18% of subsidiary First American CoreLogic and roll it into the information solutions group. First American is looking to spin off its title business by June 1.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals Internation-al is paying $28 million for an undisclosed Brazilian drug maker, which had sales of $19 million in 2009, to expand its generic and skin drug products. Separately, Valeant said it was paying $28 million for a 165,000-square-foot plant near Sao Paulo that’s been approved to produce solid, semi-solid and liquid drugs. The plant will allow Valeant to shut down what it called a “subscale” facility in Brazil, Chief Executive J. Michael Pearson said.
TECHNOLOGY
Anaheim’s Extron Electronics Inc., a maker electronics for projector systems, acquired a division of Burbank-based Electrosonic Inc. Extron picked up the products engineering and development unit of Electrosonic, which designs, installs and supports big audio/visual installations. Privately held Extron didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, which includes products currently designed and made by Electrosonic as well as patents.
Irvine-based Broadcom Corp., a maker of communications chips, was upgraded by a Wall Street analyst after Chief Executive Scott McGregor said he expects sales to outpace the market. Goldman Sachs & Co. analyst James Schneider upgraded the company’s stock to “buy” from “neutral.” Schneider said he sees Broadcom growing market share for cell phones chips by more than 13% by the end of 2011, up from about 3% or 4% in the fourth quarter.
HEALTHCARE
The Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to Irvine-based eye drug maker Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. about advertising for its flagship product. Regulators said marketing material for Ista’s Xibrom drug for treating pain after cataract surgery overstates its effectiveness, minimizes risks and makes unsubstantiated claims of being better than rivals. Xibrom accounts for 75% of Ista’s $110 million in yearly sales.
Biolase Technology Inc., a maker of dental lasers, received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to market a product. In April the device maker plans to start shipping iLase, a laser device that is the size of a large pen and is operated by hand, with no foot pedals or cords.
SenoRx Inc., an Irvine medical device maker, said Chief Executive Lloyd H. Malchow died. Malchow, who was 56, had been undergoing cancer treatment. John Buhler, SenoRx’s president and chief operating officer, was named as his replacement. Buhler joined the company in 2008.
REAL ESTATE
California rejected all seven bids it received for the OC Fair & Event Center for being
too low. The high bid of $56.5 million came from outlet mall developer Craig Realty of Newport Beach and partner Dwight Manley, a former sports agent. The state had hoped to
sell the fairgrounds for $96 million to $180
million.
FINANCE
An Orange County investment adviser and his firm agreed last week to pay more than $100,000 to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they placed clients into what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme run by disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu. The SEC alleged Paul H. Heckler and his Tustin-based Yosemite Capital Management defrauded clients by doing inadequate research before investing $3.25 million in Ashton Investments, which secretly fed clients into Hsu’s Ponzi scheme.
Real estate developer and investor George Argyros joined the board of the parent company of Costa Mesa-based Pacific Mercantile Bank, the county’s largest homegrown bank.
GOVERNMENT
Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street is giving up authority over the county’s roughly $5 billion investment fund two weeks after a judge ruled he previously breached his fiduciary duty as a bankruptcy trustee overseeing assets of former truck maker Fruehauf Trailer Corp. The judge ruled Street kept improper records and used the trust to pay himself an additional $240,000 in salary and cover personal expenses. He was ordered to pay more than $7 million in damages.
OTHER NEWS
Virgin America Inc. is pulling out of John Wayne Airport in May. Virgin announced five daily flights out of Orange County a year ago. The move allows the airline to reshuffle its fleet and begin service from Orlando International Airport with daily nonstop flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco in August. Virgin America also plans to serve Toronto with daily flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco.
