Other items of interest Orange County Business Journal
APPAREL
The former chief financial officer of Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc. and an executive with Oakley founder Jim Jannard’s latest venture joined the board of trendy headphone maker Skullcandy Inc. The company is based in Park City, Utah, with offices in San Clemente. Doug Collier left Volcom after its sale last month to Paris-based PPR SA. Scott Olivet is executive chairman of Jannard’s Red Digital Cinema Camera Co. in Foothill Ranch. Skullcandy plans to raise $182 million in a public offering (see related item under Media).
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. said it will pay $75 million upfront and as much as $200 million on milestones for skin drug maker Vicept Therapeutics in Malvern, Pa. Vicept is developing a cream for treating redness associated with rosacea, a skin condition that leads to redness on the face. The company, founded in 2009, is backed by Palo Alto-based Vivo Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences of Cambridge, Mass., and Sofinnova Ventures in France.
MEDIA
Terry Horne has announced his retirement as publisher of the Orange County Register and will leave the post on Sept. 30. His departure comes as the Register’s owner, Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc., seeks to sell its 100 or so newspapers and eight TV stations. No replacement has been named for Horne, who plans to return to Arizona, where he served as publisher of the East Valley Tribune in Mesa before joining the Register in 2007. Freedom recently broke off talks on a sale to Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., although sources indicated a resumption of negotiations is likely.
Lake Forest-based Red Digital Cinema Camera Co. has released its Epic-M, described as a “pre-production camera” that will require software updates. Production of the Epic, which has a starting price of $28,000, was delayed after a software bug was uncovered last year. Red Digital was founded in 2005 by Jim Jannard, who started Foothill Ranch-based sunglasses and clothing maker Oakley Inc. Jannard sold Oakley to Italy’s Luxottica Group SPA for $2.1 billion in 2007 (see related item under Apparel).
TECHNOLOGY
Newport Beach-based Mobilitie LLC, which buys and builds cell phone towers and leases them to wireless phone network operators, has secured $415 million in financing with Toronto-based TD Securities. The money will be used to support the construction and acquisition of additional towers and antenna systems in the U.S. and international markets, according to the company. Mobilitie owns more than 2,500 cell phone towers in the U.S. and sees about $100 million in yearly sales.
Santa Ana-based Identive Group Inc., a maker of scanners, readers, cards and other security devices for buildings and computers, acquired polyright SA, a maker of identity management products for the education and healthcare markets. Polyright is based in Sion, Switzerland, and owned Securitas AG and the Kudelski Group. Identive’s Multicard AG subsidiary made the buy.
Cypress-based Universal Electronics Inc., which makes universal remote systems for consumer electronics, filed a patent-infringement suit against a customer that balked at renewing a licensing deal. Fremont-based Logitech Inc., which makes software and hardware for computers and home electronics, said it has developed its own universal remote technology. Logitech claims that patents covered in a 2004 settlement between the two companies have expired or no longer apply to its products.
REAL ESTATE
State officials won’t attempt to complete a sale of the 150-acre Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa to Facilities Management West, a consortium headed by the Fait family trust. The decision follows the state’s Fourth District Court of Appeal’s ruling that declared the $100 million sale void. Costa Mesa-based Facilities Management West won a bidding process that prompted challenges from opponents who charged that the state failed to provide the legislature with an appraisal of the property. The court also took issue with a lack of any procedure for losing bidders to protest the outcome. Facilities Waste Management said the process was fair but it won’t appeal the court decision.
My Father’s House Church International in Norco said it plans to offer $50 million for the Crystal Cathedral and its 35-acre campus is Garden Grove. Few details were offered about the proposal. Newport Beach-based developer Greenlaw Partners and Chapman University in Orange have each bid $46 million for the property, with some difference in specific terms. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Orange also has expressed interest but has made no bid so far.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Filings for new business names in Orange County, which rose to 3,048 in June, a 4.3% increase from May and up 2.2% from a year earlier, according to the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. Such filings typically are for new fictitious business names, also known as DBAs, with some renewals. Filings for the past 12 months trail the year-ago total by 3.9%.
