EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
The state Legislature was set to vote late last week on a bill to overhaul the $22 billion workers’ compensation system. A legislative committee approved the proposed bill in a 6-0 vote Thursday. If the bill doesn’t pass the Legislature, proponents of a November ballot initiative mandating reform said they were ready to submit petitions to the secretary of state’s office by Friday’s deadline. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to take workers’ comp reform to the ballot if the Legislature didn’t pass its own reform bill (see related story on the state’s upcoming budget talks).
TECHNOLOGY
Lap Shun “John” Hui said he gave $72.5 million to employees of Irvine’s eMachines Inc., which Hui sold earlier this year to Gateway Inc. for about $290 million in cash and stock. Hui bought eMachines three years ago for some $160 million. Hui gave all eMachines’ workers at least 30% of their salary as a bonus. Gateway plans to move its headquarters from Poway to Irvine. Meanwhile, Gateway said it plans to hold its shareholder meeting in Irvine May 20. The computer seller traditionally held its shareholder meetings in Sioux Falls, S.D., where the company once was based … Irvine-based Autobytel Inc. said it plans to buy Stoneage Corp., a Troy, Mich.-based online car-buying service, for $48.3 million in cash and stock. Autobytel upped its sales forecast on the buy to 35% to 40% growth this year, higher than a prior estimate of 15% to 20% growth. The deal is expected to boost earnings in 2005 … Shares of Irvine-based Exult Inc. fell 22% to 4.9 after key customer Bank of America Corp. said it was moving human-resources work to FMR Corp.’s Fidelity Investments unit by 2006. Fidelity handles payroll and benefits for FleetBoston Financial Corp., which Bank of America bought earlier this year. Exult said it expected to lose $60 million to $75 million in annual revenue by 2006 because of the switch … India’s Zenith Computers Ltd. said it will buy disk drives from Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. for its desktop computers … Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. said institutional investors have committed $15 million to buy 3 million shares of the company’s stock in an offering that closed last week … SBC Communications Inc. said it’s selling phone service to businesses in Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Seal Beach and Westminster.
HEALTHCARE
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. signed a deal worth $130 million annually with San Diego-based medical supplier Premier Inc. … Irvine-based Cardiac Science Inc. won a pact to supply 84 defibrillators to 51 WellPoint Inc. hospitals … Lake Forest-based I-Flow Corp. said it plans to sell 2.6 million shares at $15.50 per share … Newport Beach-based TriZetto Group Inc. said BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee bought its NetworXPricer software..
REAL ESTATE
A group affiliated with Laguna Beach’s Montage Resort & Spa said it bought the 240-acre Driftwood Estates from Highpointe Communities, plus the 62-room Aliso Creek Inn and Golf Course from Violet Brown, who acquired it with her now-deceased husband in the 1950s. The hotel deal closed March 1; the Driftwood property sale was finalized April 1 … A Wildlife Conservation Board member said the state is in talks to buy all or part of a parcel of the Bolsa Chica Mesa owned by developer Hearthside Homes, a unit of Irvine-based California Coastal Communities Inc. The state would use funds from Proposition 50 to buy the land, where Hearthside has plans to build homes on 210 acres.
FINANCE
Kenneth W. Corba, chief executive of Allianz AG’s PEA Capital unit, resigned amid allegations of improper trading in some of its stock funds. Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., Germany-based Allianz’s bond fund unit, also has been accused by the New Jersey attorney general of fraud in a civil suit filed in February.
GOVERNMENT
A hearing on the legitimacy of the sale of Huntington Beach-based PBS affiliate KOCE-TV Channel 50 was postponed until this week. The Coast Community College District’s $28 million sale to the station’s foundation has been challenged by Christian broadcaster Daystar Television Network, which also bid on the station. Meanwhile, KOCE named state Assemblyman Lou Correa, Eastwood Insurance Services founder Judi Partridge and Orange County Register publisher and Chief Executive N. Christian Anderson III to its board … The California Coastal Commission OK’d an $8 million plan to build fences and bridges over railroad tracks in San Clemente to give beachgoers easier access to the ocean. A 2.6-million trail also will be built according to plans, which must nab $2.5 million more in funding and win design approval from the city and California Public Utilities Commission by June 30 … The University of California, Irvine’s engineering school tied with two others at No. 42 on the U.S. News & World Report’s latest survey. The university finished No. 47 in the magazine’s last ranking.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
A judge lifted a restraining order preventing Greg Scott, former head of Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc.’s Arden B. unit who now heads Bebe Stores Inc., from hiring Wet Seal workers. Several key Wet Seal executives already have left the company to join Scott at Bebe … Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. hired Thomas Kennedy as president of the company’s PacSun retail store unit. Kennedy was hired from Nike Inc., where he was vice president of global lifestyle apparel. He worked at Gap Inc. for eight years prior to his Nike stint.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: Orange County’s jobs picture in March, with total nonfarm jobs up a slight 0.7% to 1,423,700, versus a year earlier, and the unemployment rate at 3.6% compared to 3.9% last year.
