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San Diego’s Biosite Inc., set to be acquired by Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. for $1.55 billion, received a competing bid from Inverness Medical Inno-vations Inc. of Waltham, Mass. Inverness, a maker of diagnostic medical tests, already owns 5% of Biosite. The company is offering $90 per share for Biosite, versus Beckman’s $85 a share offer announced on March 25. Beckman, which makes instruments and chemicals for medical testing and research, said it is sticking with its offer and could close a deal within 30 days. Scott Garrett, Beckman’s chief executive, called the Inverness offer “unsolicited” and “highly speculative”.
Shares of Newport Beach networking chipmaker Mindspeed Tech-nologies Inc. fell last week on news that it was lowering its outlook for the recently ended quarter. The company said it expects revenue growth of about 2% from the December quarter, in which it saw sales of $30 million. Earlier, it forecast 7% to 13% sequential growth. Mindspeed blamed the slower growth on weak demand for its analog chips and a tapering off of sales to an unnamed customer undergoing a buyout. In the December quarter, Mindspeed reported a loss of $11.3 million. Sales in the quarter were down on product shipment delays. This is the second consecutive quarter the company has lowered guidance. Mindspeed is set to report second quarter results April 23.
Cooper Cos., a Lake Forest-based contact lens maker, last week said that longtime head A. Thomas Bender will relinquish the chief executive’s role by the end of this year. He’s set to have a continuing role at the company. Meanwhile, the company’s board is working on a succession plan and is combining its CooperVision Inc. and Cooper headquarters operations (see story page 3).
Irvine-based New Century Financial Corp. hopes to keep a large number of loan officers who no longer are making loans to help it attract a buyer for its shuttered loan lending business. The company asked a bankruptcy court recently to approve payments for upward of 1,300 loan officers. Keeping the employees will increase the value of its lending business, New Century’s lawyers said. The subprime lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week in Delaware. In conjunction with the filing, New Century agreed to sell its loan servicing unit for about $139 million. It also said it was eliminating 3,200 employees, more than half of the company. The company stopped making loans a month ago, when its lenders stopped funding its subprime deals.
The Irvine City Council approved two more housing developments for the Irvine Business Complex. The projects, 2851 Alton and Martin St. Condos, were OK’d by the City Council last week. Allergan Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the housing projects. 2851 Alton would be 170 condominiums next to a condo project already under construction at Jamboree Road and Alton Parkway. The project will have the condos built in four-story units wrapped around a parking garage. The Martin St. Condos include 82 condos at the northwest corner of Von Karman Avenue and Martin Street, across from Allergan’s campus.
Shares of Corinthian Colleges Inc. got a boost last week after an analyst said the Santa Ana-based vocational college operator could benefit as more people return to school amid the slowing economy. Citigroup’s Paul Beland upgraded Corinthian’s shares to “buy,” saying the company’s diploma offerings are “ripe for the unemployed.”
