Compiled by Mike Mason
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IBM Corp. said it plans to acquire Costa Mesa-based FileNet Corp. for $1.6 billion. The offer was just a 1% premium to FileNet’s share price before the announcement, leading some to speculate that other companies could make competing bids. The IBM deal must be approved by shareholders and regulators. IBM said it plans to combine FileNet’s operations with IBM’s content management business in its Information Management unit. FileNet is Orange County’s third-largest software company by sales. It was founded in 1982 by Ted Smith, who was chief executive until 1998 when Lee Roberts took over. Smith still sits on the board of the company.
British software maker Sage Group PLC said it plans to make the biggest acquisition yet for its Irvine-based North American operations. Sage agreed to pay about $565 million in cash for Tampa-based Emdeon Practice Services, which makes software to manage doctors’ practices. Emdeon is part of Elmwood Park, N.J.-based Emdeon Inc. The deal is expected to close in September. Emdeon will be folded into Sage’s North American operations when the deal is completed. Emdeon Practice Services posted revenue of $304.5 million in 2005, up 3% from a year earlier. Sage is OC’s biggest software company by sales.
Anaheim-based Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc. slumped after the company said its net income in the quarter ended June 30 fell 9% to $8.3 million, compared to a year earlier. Analysts were looking for income of $8.8 million. Sales grew 54% to $130.3 million, versus a year ago. Multi-Fineline, or M-Flex, blamed the lower income on a larger share of sales coming from lower-profit flexible circuit boards. M-Flex’s largest customer, Motorola Inc., contributed 80% of the company’s quarterly revenue. M-Flex said its second-largest customer is on pace to account for 10% of sales in the current quarter, up from 6% in the previous quarter.
Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software Inc. reported disappointing revenue for the second quarter and withheld its earnings result as it investigates its accounting for stock option grants. The software maker posted revenue of $126.9 million for the quarter, up 18.5% from the year-ago quarter but shy of analysts’ estimates of $130.1 million.
Tustin-based Cherokee International Corp. said it plans to close its plant in Guadalajara, Mexico, by the first quarter. The maker of power supply gear plans to move the work to its recently built, 120,000-square-foot plant in Shanghai, China. The 35,000-square-foot Guadalajara plant employs about 250 workers. Cherokee is looking for a buyer of the plant.
Santa Ana-based title insurer First American Corp. made a couple of small acquisitions. The company boosted its non-title insurance operations by picking up Faxxon Legal Information Services Inc. Faxxon is a privately held search and filing company based in Springfield, Ill. First American also said it bought privately held Offutt Systems Inc., a Greensboro, N.C.-based provider of multiple listing real estate services. Terms weren’t disclosed on either deal.
Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said it plans to sell its perfusion products business to the Nipro Group, a Japanese medical device maker. Edwards didn’t disclose financial terms, but said it expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter. The unit has produced about $2 million in profit and $20 million in sales for Edwards this year. Nipro’s Brazilian unit, Nipro Medical Ltda., will take on the Edwards perfusion unit, which is based in Sao Paulo. About 140 of Edwards’ workers in the unit will go to Nipro Medical.
John Wayne Airport reported a 2.5% decline in July passenger traffic to 876,431 people, versus a year earlier. There were 29,813 takeoffs and landings, down 2.2% from a year ago.
The Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa said it posted an operating surplus of $210,284 for the 12 months through June 30. The arts center’s operating expenses were $35.4 million, with total income of $25.2, including $15.8 million from ticket sales. The center hit a record high of $9.3 million in income contributed to the center in the period.
