TOP STORY
Irvine-based Microsemi Corp., a maker of chips for military, aerospace and industrial uses, is buying White Electronic Design Corp. for $100 million. The cash deal is expected to close in the current quarter. Phoenix-based White Electronic designs, assembles and tests chips used primarily by the military and sees yearly sales of around $65 million. Microsemi said it expects the deal to add some $7 million to $10 million to its profits for the 12 months through October 2011.
HEALTHCARE
Allergan Inc., the Irvine-based maker of Botox and other drugs, had its outlook raised by Fitch Ratings Inc. Fitch said it changed its outlook to “positive” from “stable” based on unexpected revenue growth. Allergan’s revenue rose 2% in 2009 to $4.5 billion. Fitch had expected a decrease and now expects Allergan’s revenue to grow in 2010 as well. In other Allergan news, the drug maker signed a deal to develop a drug to treat frequent urination at night. It is paying $43 million to Serenity Pharmaceuticals LLC of Mil-ford, Pa., for development, manufacturing and commercializing rights for Serenity’s Ser-120.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp., an Irvine medical device maker, said a federal jury found that rival Medtronic Inc.’s CoreValve infringed on a patent for a less-invasive heart valves and awarded it $74 million in damages. The jury found that Medtronic CoreValve LLC, an Irvine unit of Minneapolis-based Medtronic, willfully in-fringed on a U.S. patent for a new type of heart valve that’s inserted through a catheter. Edwards said it could get up to about $222 million in damages because the jury decided that Medtronic’s infringement was intentional. Medtronic said it planned to appeal the jury’s finding and a permanent injunction that would block it from selling its valve in the U.S. Courts in Britain and Germany have found that CoreValve’s valve doesn’t infringe upon the same patent. Edwards originally filed the suit against Medtronic two years ago.
Reverse Medical Corp., an Irvine-based maker of devices for treating strokes, raised $14 million in a second round of venture funding. Participating investors included Irvine-based MedFocus Fund, which founded and incubated Reverse Medical in 2007. Reverse Medical said it would use the money to help commercialize its microcatheters.
APPAREL
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. was one of several retailers hacked in 2008 by a credit card data theft ring whose leader was sentenced to prison last week. Wet Seal, which runs clothing stores for teen girls and young women, said a ring led by hacker Albert Gonzalez gained access to its computers. There was no evidence the hackers obtained customer credit and debit card data, according to Wet Seal.
FINANCE
Costa Mesa-based Energy & Power Solutions Inc., which helps companies cut energy costs and reduce emissions, filed plans to raise up to $25 million in an initial public stock offering. Energy & Power Solutions said it plans to use the money to expand its xChange Point software that companies use to find ways to save money on energy use. The initial filing doesn’t indicate which exchange Energy & Power Solu-tions hopes to trade on, or when the company might offer its shares. Energy & Power Solutions has about 100 workers. It isn’t profitable.
OTHER NEWS
Irvine-based Resources Connection Inc., a provider of accountants, lawyers and other professionals on a project basis, reported a smaller than expected quarterly loss while sales came in shy of expectations. For the three months through February, Resources Connection reported a loss minus charges of $464,000, versus a profit of $2.1 million a year earlier. Wall Street analysts were expecting a loss of $928,000. Revenue came in at $125.3 million, down 20% from a year earlier and shy of the $127 million analysts were expecting on average.
Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America and Irvine’s Kia Motors America Inc. again led local automakers with big gains in March sales as part of a larger industry rebound. Hyundai, part of South Korea’s Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, saw a 15.4% gain from a year earlier to 47,002 vehicles sold in March. Sister company Kia sold 30,522 vehicles last month, up 23.5% from a year earlier.
