Compiled by Julie Leupold
Oracle Corp. acquired Irvine-based business software maker LogicalApps Inc. for undisclosed terms. Privately held LogicalApps sells software that helps companies automate financial controls and compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting reform act of 2002.
The International Trade Commission said it’s looking into two local companies as well as other disk drive and computer makers for alleged patent infringement. Lake Forest’s Western Digital Corp. and Irvine’s Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp., are among five companies the federal trade watchdog is looking at. The investigation was launched after a complaint was filed in September by Steven and Mary Reiber of the Sacramento area about the infringement of patents for drive parts. The ITC has 45 days to set a date for completing the probe, after which an ITC judge will hold a hearing.
Newport Beach-based savings and loan operator Downey Financial Corp. warned that bad mortgages will bring a loss to its third-quarter results. The company said it expects a $23 million loss for the quarter, versus a profit of $57 million a year earlier. Wall Street had expected a profit of $30 million for the third quarter. Results are due Oct. 17. Losses from foreclosures and loans where borrowers are behind in payments forced Downey to up its cash reserves. The company said it has further tightened its lending guidelines and will work with borrowers to modify loans (see story, page 88).
Tustin Hospital and Medical Center will close its six-bed emergency room on Dec. 29. The county’s 30-some hospitals are expected to absorb Tustin’s emergency patients. In 2005, 7,815 people visited the Tustin emergency room, according to state figures. They accounted for about 1% of total emergency visits in the county.
Simon Property Group is proposing a 200,000-square-foot expansion of Brea Mall,a project that would make the shopping center the third largest in Orange County by square footage. The expansion would add nine buildings and a six-level parking structure on the south side of the mall near State College Boulevard and Imperial Highway. Five two-story buildings would be for stores and four one-story buildings for restaurants. Brea Mall now shares the No. 3 spot on the list of the county’s largest malls with Fashion Island and the Buena Park Downtown, each at 1.3 million square feet. South Coast Plaza, at 2.2 million square feet, and The Marketplace in Tustin and Irvine, at 1.6 million square feet, are tops. Construction could start in 2009 and take two to three years to complete.
Women own half or more of 129,000 businesses in Orange County,39.6% of all privately held businesses in the county, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research. The majority, 96,201, have a woman as the majority shareholder, making the county 12th among major U.S. metro areas. Women own an additional 33,079 businesses here with a husband or other male. All of the businesses account for 187,500 local jobs and generate yearly revenue of $35 billion, according to the study.
A Walt Disney Co.-backed ballot initiative that would essentially strip the Anaheim City Council of authority to make land-use decisions in the city’s Resort District was certified last week by the Orange County Registrar of Voters. A Disney-funded coalition turned in more than 31,000 signatures in August for an initiative that would give voters the chance to block housing projects in the area around Disney’s theme parks, a move that would help Disney in its fight against proposed homes by Irvine’s SunCal Cos. Anaheim City Clerk Linda Nguyen said that the registrar had certified 19,788 signatures,15% of Anaheim’s voters, enough to place the initiative on the ballot.
Meade Instruments Corp., the Irvine maker of telescopes, said last week it is cutting jobs in Irvine and searching to move production to a lower-cost place. Slow telescope sales and a loss in the quarter ended Aug. 31 prompted the cuts. For the quarter, Meade reported a loss of $4 million, compared to a loss of $5.9 million a year earlier. Revenue was off 12% to $16.2 million. Meade expects that the job cuts will save $2 million a year, with some savings seen immediately. Meade expects to record a charge related to severance costs of about $100,000 in the current quarter. The company employed 300 people before the cuts.
