Compiled by Julie Leupold
TOP STORIES
A former executive at Irvine’s Broadcom Corp. pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice as part of a federal probe into stock options backdating at the chipmaker. Ex-human relations head Nancy Tullos agreed to cooperate with investigators as part of a plea deal. The move increases pressure on Broadcom cofounder and former chief executive Henry Nicholas as well as former chief financial officer Bill Ruehle, who also are under federal investigations. Tullos left Broadcom in 2004, a year after Nicholas stepped down. Ruehle left in 2006.
TECHNOLOGY
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., the largest distributor of technology products, reaffirmed its fourth-quarter outlook and said business in new markets should offset a slowing U.S. economy. For the quarter, Ingram Micro expects to earn $100 million to $105.2 million. Wall Street analysts on average expect $105.2 million in fourth-quarter profits. The company forecasts sales of $9.7 billion to $9.95 billion. Wall Street expects $9.89 billion. The company’s forecast excludes the impact of a planned sale of Ingarm’s chip distribution business to Japan’s Tomen Electronics Corp. The two companies said last month that Tomen is paying $19 million for Ingram’s Singapore-based chip business.
Santa Ana-based Microsemi Corp. agreed to buy the assets of a microwave chipmaker for $7.8 million. Microsemi said it’s set to pay cash for the assets of Westford, Mass.-based Microwave Device Technology Corp. The deal is set to close at year’s end.
HEALTHCARE
Aliso Viejo-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International completed enrolling patients in a second third-phase clinical trial for retigabine, an epilepsy drug the company is looking to for growth. The Aliso Viejo drug maker enrolled 539 patients in the trial, which is being done at 49 sites across the U.S. and Canada and 20 sites in Europe, Australia, Israel and South Africa. Valeant said it expected the trials to conclude in the second quarter and file regulatory applications in the U.S. and Europe with an anticipated launch date of 2009 for the drug (see story page 42).
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. bought the remaining 80% of NexGen Diagnostics LLC, a Southfield, Mich.-based company, for $36 million. NexGen is a spinoff of Lumigen Inc., which Beckman bought for $185 million in 2006. Lumigen spun off NexGen before Beckman bought it. The deal’s set to close in the fourth quarter. Beckman expects to take a $36 million charge in the fourth quarter for costs related to NexGen’s research and development.
REAL ESTATE
The price of an existing Orange County house was unchanged from September to October while sales continued to decline, the California Association of Realtors said. The median price for an existing stand-alone OC home sold in October was $673,770, the same as a month earlier but down 1.1% from a year earlier. Sales were off 42% in October
from a year earlier and were down 11.3% from September.
Irvine-based New Century Financial Corp. has asked for a one-month extension to file a plan of liquidation with Delaware’s bankruptcy court. The failed subprime lender said in a court filing this week that it needs until Dec. 28 to figure out a plan to deal with creditor claims totaling $35 billion.
APPAREL
Levi Strauss & Co. sued Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. for allegedly copying Levi’s trademarked pocket-stitching design. Wet Seal settled a similar dispute in 1998 by agreeing not to sell stitch designs like Levi’s.
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.’s chief financial officer resigned. Michael L. Henry, the company’s vice president and controller, will fill Gerald Chaney’s job on an interim basis until a replacement is found.
The Anaheim City Council voted to withdraw support for a controversial housing project near Disneyland. The 3-2 decision overturned a vote taken seven months ago to approve zoning for a 1,500-home project including 225 low-cost apartments. Walt Disney Co. still plans to push a ballot measure that would bar homes around its theme parks.
GOVERNMENT
Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc., a maker of body armor for soldiers, said it received $107 million and likely will get a new $400 million deal with the Army. The company said the money will be used to make ceramic plates worn by ground forces in Iraq.
OTHER NEWS
Networking device maker Emulex Corp. of Costa Mesa gave $1.5 million to University of California, Irvine’s Samueli School of Engineering for the Emulex Endowed Chair in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The new professor’s research will focus on next-generation computers.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Down: building permits for homes in Orange County through October, with the lowest number issued in 14 years, according to the Construction Industry Research Board.
