TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based software startup Integrien Corp. raised $8 million in venture funding. The company, which makes software that helps manage e-commerce, stock trading and other programs that are costly if they go down, plans to use the money to expand sales. Integrien has raised an estimated $40 million in all.
HEALTHCARE
Sequent Medical Inc., an Aliso Viejo medical device maker, raised $15.6 million in a second round of venture financing. Sequent, which was started in 2007, is working on devices to treat ballooning blood vessels in the brain. The money is set to go toward work on new products.
An Oklahoma jury awarded $15 million to a woman who claimed pain and other problems after receiving shots of Botox, made by Irvine-based Allergan Inc. The jury ruled in favor of Allergan on a product liability claim, but it found the company was negligent by providing guidance on use of the drug for conditions other than what it’s approved for. Allergan plans to appeal.
Lake Forest-based InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. is paying $8.5 million to buy eight imaging centers in Phoenix, Texas and New Mexico from Georgia’s MedQuest Associates Inc. and North Carolina’s Novant Health Inc. The centers generated about $19 million in revenue in 2009. In a separate transaction, Insight agreed to sell mobile imaging units in North Carolina for $9.2 million to an affiliate of MedQuest and Novant. The mobile imaging units generated $3 million in 2009 revenue. The deals are set to close in July.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. swung to a loss in the first quarter. Irvine-based Spectrum, which makes cancer drugs, said its net loss was $39 million, compared to a profit of $115,000 a year earlier. Wall Street expected Spectrum to lose $7.3 million in the quarter. Spectrum said that its first-quarter research and development expenses shot up 540% to $36.5 million from a year earlier, primarily because of an upfront payment and development costs for cancer drug Belinostat. First-quarter revenue came in at $11.1 million, above Wall Street’s expectation of $9.9 million.
REAL ESTATE
Newport Beach-based Clearview Hotel Trust Inc. plans to go public to raise up to $375 million to buy more than a dozen hotels. The real estate investment trust, formed earlier this year, plans to buy 14 upscale hotels in 12 states from Kentucky’s Columbia Sussex Corp. Columbia Sussex would continue to operate the hotels. Clearview’s stock is set to trade on the New York Exchange if the offering is completed.
San Clemente-based hotel owner Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. saw a first-quarter loss. The hotel owner reported a loss of $26.3 million compared to a year earlier, when it saw profit of $876,000. Sunstone’s funds from operations, a measure of profitability for hotels and other real estate owners, came in at $3.9 million, down 87% from a year earlier. The results exclude 11 hotels that were handed back to lenders, including eight hotels that are in the process of being turned over to receivers.
Santa Ana-based Grubb & Ellis Co. reported a smaller first-quarter loss. The real estate brokerage and investor saw a $23.8 million loss, which was narrowed by nearly $18 million from a year earlier. The company had revenue of $132.5 million, up 8%. Grubb & Ellis’ losses were in line with Wall Street estimates.
Lake Forest’s Saddleback Church, headed by Pastor Rick Warren, announced a deal to lease and take over the 170-acre Crystal Cathedral retreat in San Juan Capistrano. The property has been bought by Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. of Oklahoma City of-ficials said. According to Saddleback officials, the decision to sell the land to Hobby Lobby was decided a month ago by financially strapped Crystal Cathedral Ministries of Orange and finalized last week. The 20-acre retreat center, Rancho Capistrano, will close in March, which will save Crystal Cathedral Ministries $5 million a year.
FINANCE
Los Angeles-based distressed buyout firm Signature Group Holdings LLP was tapped to revive fallen subprime mortgage lender Fremont General Corp. Signature was one of three groups vying for control of the Anaheim Hills-based company, which once was the fifth-largest U.S. subprime mortgage lender with more than 3,500 employees. A decision to approve Signature’s reorganization plan for Fremont was made through a bench ruling issued recently by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana. Fremont is expected to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the month. Signature will look to revive Fremont as a business lender.
OTHER NEWS
Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. acquired Irvine-based coffee seller Diedrich Coffee Inc. after a long regulatory review. Diedrich was bought for $290 million in cash by Green Mountain, which in December prevailed over Emeryville-based Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. in a bidding war.
The Federal Trade Commission said last week it closed an investigation into Green Mountain’s acquisition of Diedrich, a move that cleared the way for the deal to go through.
