Compiled by Alisha Gomez
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Brea-based ResMae Mortgage Corp. is the latest local subprime lender rumored to be up for sale. Investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston is in talks to buy ResMae, according to a report in industry publication MortgageWire. A deal for ResMae would continue a trend of actual and expected consolidation in the subprime lending sector, where lenders make loans to customers with spotty credit.
Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software Inc., a maker of software to monitor the performance of databases and other programs, last week said it expects to take $150 million in charges to restate earnings to correct backdated stock options granted from 1998 to 2002. A special board committee looking into option grants found current and former senior management bore some degree of responsibility for the misdated options but found no fraud or intentional misconduct. The committee said no changes were warranted among Quest’s executive ranks. More than $1.5 million in options, including for Chief Executive Vincent “Vinny” Smith, were repriced to eliminate “actual and potential benefits” executives might have received, the committee said.
Santa Ana-based MSC.Software Corp., which makes software used by manufacturers to test their designs, last week said it is cutting 85 jobs and consolidating facilities. Severance costs and other charges are expected to be $6 million to $8 million, MSC said.
Irvine-based AcuFocus Inc., developer of an eye implant to correct the inability to focus up close with aging, has received an investment from Bausch & Lomb Inc. as well as an option to be bought. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. AcuFocus is working on a lens that’s implanted in the cornea to treat presbyopia and reduce dependence on reading glasses.
Santa Ana-based eye device maker Advanced Medical Optics Inc. last week said it bought WaveFront Sciences Inc. of Albuquerque, N.M., for $20 million. Advanced Medical paid $14 million in cash upfront for WaveFront and agreed to make up to $6 million in contingent payments in the next three years. WaveFront, which has about 50 workers, makes diagnostic systems for vision correction surgery and medical research. Earlier this month, Advanced Medical said it’s spending $808 million for IntraLase Corp., which makes lasers used in the first stage of laser vision correction surgery.
The Irvine Company last week said it plans to build an office tower in downtown San Diego. Construction could start as early as next year and take two and a half years to complete. The land for the tower was bought from high-rise condominium developer Bosa Development Corp. earlier this month for a reported $60 million. The site already is zoned for office space from a previous owner of the property, the company said. The building site has a development agreement that allows for a maximum height of 480 feet. A total size for the project hasn’t been announced. The tower could be 35 stories or so. The Irvine Co. already owns six office towers in downtown San Diego, following a buying spree last year that saw it acquire the city’s preeminent tower, One America Plaza.
Michael Cortney, president of Irvine homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp., is retiring March 15, the company said last week. Stephen Scarborough, chairman and chief executive of Standard Pacific, is also set to take on the role of president. Cortney’s been with the company for nearly 25 years.
Eight condo towers in Costa Mesa were approved by the City Council last week. The first of the developments,a two-tower project called The Californian at Town Center,is set to begin construction this summer. The remaining projects, six towers at four different sites, still need final approvals. The council has signed off on the number of units for each tower as well as the towers’ height. Five developers are building the eight towers.
San Clemente-based hotel owner and operator Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. last week named Steven Goldman as its next chief executive. Current Chief Bob Alter is set to become chairman. Goldman is set to take the position on March 19. Alter is set to remain as an executive for the rest of the year before becoming chairman. Goldman has been executive vice president of acquisitions and development for Global Hyatt Corp. Sunstone also named Jon Kline as president.
