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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



TOP STORIES

State election results favored business interests: Proposition 64, reform of the notorious 17200 section of the business practices code, passed; Proposition 72, which sought to ratify a law that required employer-sponsored heath coverage, failed. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbied for Proposition 64 and against Proposition 72 (see stories, page 1, 3).

Irvine-based Gateway Inc. said it planned to buy back $316 million of its shares from Time Warner Inc.’s America Online Inc. unit. Gateway will pay $185.6 million in cash and give up as much as $130 million in past and future cash payments owed by AOL under a revenue-sharing deal that was inked in 1999 when AOL invested $800 million in the computer maker. The deal is set to close Dec. 22 … Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. agreed to pay $5.3 million and allow an independent director to be nominated by shareholders holding 1% to 20% of the chipmaker’s shares as part of a deal to settle class-action lawsuits against the company, including one brought by local investors … Irvine-based Interplay Entertainment Corp. said a $99 million suit filed against the game maker by Knight Bridging Korea Co. was dismissed. Knight Bridging charged Interplay, a unit of France’s Titus Interactive SA, with breach of contract and stealing trade secrets … Shareholders of Santa Ana-based Troy Group Inc. said they’ll ask a judge to value the company’s shares ahead of a buyout by the Dirk family, Troy’s founder and largest shareholder. Last week, four class action lawsuits challenging the Dirks $3.06 a share offer were dismissed. The family has rejected higher offers for the company … Costa Mesa-based Irvine Sensors Corp. said it won three grants worth $2.2 million from the federal government. The grants will be used for developing sensors for unmanned airborne vehicles, improving its miniature infrared cameras and working on a wireless electronic “dog tag” for military and commercial uses.


Irvine-based Endologix Inc. won approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell its Powerlink stent in the U.S. The stents, which are used to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms, are sold in Europe. Endologix said it could hire as many as 40 sales staff by the end of the first quarter if early sales are strong.


Newport Beach-based The Irvine Company said it bought the 23-story, 472,000-square-foot Wells Fargo Plaza in downtown San Diego for an undisclosed price … There were 53 new homes for sale by builders at the end of the third quarter in Orange County, up from 19 in the second quarter, according to Washington, D.C.-based researcher Hanley Wood Market Intelligence … First Advantage Corp., a unit of Santa Ana-based First American Corp., said it bought Lake Havasu, Ariz.-based transportation data collector CompuNet Credit Services Inc. for undisclosed terms.


Santa Ana-based Orange County’s Credit Union opened a branch on Orangewood Avenue across from Angel Stadium of Anaheim.


The Coast Community College District’s $32 million sale of Huntington Beach-based KOCE-TV Channel 50 to the station’s foundation was finalized.


Struggling teen retailer Wet Seal Inc. said it’s considering an offer by shareholder SAC Capital Management LLC to buy as much as $56 million in convertible notes from the Foothill Ranch-based company. Wet Seal also said it’s talking about financing with other investors. SAC, which owns about 4.5% of the company’s shares, said it would lend Wet Seal $10 million immediately if the deal is approved. Wet Seal said its cash has dwindled to about $11 million by the end of the third quarter, and that bankruptcy is an option. The retailer said same-store sales slid 15.5% in October, versus a year earlier … Anaheim-based retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said same-store sales rose 8.5% in October, versus a year earlier … Aliso Viejo-based engineering services provider Fluor Corp. won a $200 million deal to build a chemical plant for INEOS Chlor in Britain. The company also signed a pact for undisclosed terms to build a power generating plant near Las Vegas for the Nevada Power Co. … The TV series “Vietnamese American Xposure,” or VAX, will return to KXLA-TV Channel 44 after Westminster’s Saigon TV dropped it because of protests over the use of Ho Chi Minh’s photo in a segment. VAX producers said they will lease broadcast time directly from KXLA starting Nov. 13 and plan to sue former partner Saigon TV for breach of contract … Martin Diedrich, chief coffee roaster at Irvine-based Diedrich Coffee Inc. said he was stepping down to pursue other interests. Diedrich, whose father founded the company, also resigned from the board … Brea’s Louis and Co. bought Salt Lake City-based Machinery Hardware Supply for undisclosed terms. Louis, a unit of Germany’s W & #252;rth Group, distributes cabinet hardware, accessories and shop supplies. Machinery Hardware Supply has annual sales of about $20 million … Newport Beach-based SM & A; signed a five-year deal with PricewaterhouseCoopers to manage the accounting firm’s federal proposals.

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