TOP STORIES
Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc.’s sale of its struggling Rossignol ski unit is set to close early this month for much less than expected. Quiksilver is set to sell Rossignol for $52 million, down from $130 million when the deal was struck in August. The company said it has hired Morgan Stanley to help it work on raising money, possibly through existing lenders, a stock sale or private equity (see cover story).
Newport Beach-based SM & A;, an aerospace consulting company, is being bought by New York private equity firm Odyssey Investment Partners LLC for $119.6 million. SM & A;’s board unanimously approved the sale, which represented a 160% premium on the company’s stock before the deal. The company expects the sale to close by year’s end or in early 2009.
TECHNOLOGY
Directors at Irvine business software maker Epicor Software Corp. rejected for the second time a buyout offer by New York hedge fund Elliott Associates LP. On Oct. 1 Elliott said it was prepared to pay $510 million, or 20% more than what Epicor’s stock was trading at before the offer. Separately, Epicor lowered its fourth-quarter profit outlook to $11 million to $17 million, just shy of Wall Street expectations.
Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. completed its buy of an Advanced Micro Devices Inc. unit for $141.5 million, or about 25% less than expected. The buy came in lower with a projected drop in fourth-quarter revenue for the former AMD unit, which is expected to see quarterly sales of $15 million to $20 million.
Aliso Viejo-based business software maker Quest Software Inc. posted third-quarter results that beat expectations. Quest reported revenue of $188 million, up 23% from a year earlier and beating the $174 million in sales expected by analysts. Excluding charges, profits were $27 million, up 13% from a year earlier and beating analysts’ expected $25 million.
HEALTHCARE
Masimo Corp., an Irvine maker of patient monitoring devices, said that its third-quarter profit rose 90% from a year earlier, beating Wall Street’s expectations. Masimo posted a third-quarter profit of $13.1 million, up from $6.9 million a year earlier. Analysts expected the company to make $9.1 million. Revenue rose 21% to $78.1 million. For 2008, Masimo said the company now expects a full-year profit of $40.2 million, up from a prior forecast of $36.2 million.
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. reported a third-quarter profit that met Wall Street expectations after spending cuts helped offset lower than expected sales of $1.08 billion. Allergan reported an adjusted profit of $199 million, up 12% from a year
earlier.
Advanced Medical Optics Inc. swung to a third-quarter profit from a loss a year earlier. The maker of eye surgery devices and contact lens solutions earned $7.1 million in the quarter, in line with analysts’ expectations of $7.5 million. The company lost $25.9 million in 2007’s third quarter.
REAL ESTATE
A federal bankruptcy judge in Santa Ana said she thinks three Irvine-based SunCal Cos. developments in Kern and Riverside counties appear to be “dead on arrival.” The projects are owned by SunCal and a unit of bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The judge also said the Lehman/SunCal partnership could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after junior creditors offered to foot the bill. The case continues on Nov. 20.
Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. reported a charge-laden net loss of $369 million for the third quarter, more than three times the $119 million loss reported a year earlier. Analysts on average expected a loss of $93 million. Write-downs of unsold homes, land and other charges made up $368 million of the loss. Excluding charges, Standard lost $9.7 million. Revenue for the quarter was down 38% to $400 million. In other news, the company put 30 to 40 housing projects on an indefinite hold.
First American Corp., the Santa Ana-based title insurer, swung to a net loss of $8.3 million in the third quarter versus a profit of $46.6 million a year earlier. It cut 1,250 jobs during the period. The company said its earnings took a hit from investment losses of $29.6 million as well as employee reduction and other restructuring costs of $12.3 million.
APPAREL
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. received and rejected a second buyout offer from small retailer Adrenalina of Miami. Adrenalina is offering to buy Pacific Sunwear for $329 million in a combination of cash and stock.
