EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
A majority of shareholders of Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc. voted to back a deal that will let those who wish to sell their company stakes to New York-based Blackstone Group LP and Providence, R.I.-based Providence Equity Partners Inc. Shareholders will receive about $213 per share, with the private equity companies putting up $200 million to $580 million and the company borrowing up to $1.1 billion to buy out shareholders and pay off existing debt of $332 million. More than 50% of the shares held by descendants of founder Raymond Cyrus Hoiles are expected to be sold. The deal values Freedom, parent of the Orange County Register newspaper, at about $1.7 billion.
Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. agreed to pay $3.5 million to Chicago’s PC-Tel Inc. to settle a patent infringement lawsuit brought by PC-Tel. Broadcom also will license several PC-Tel patents … Shares of Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. fell 9% to 10.4 after the company said its profit margin in the December quarter will be lower than the forecast of 18% because of falling disk drive prices. Revenue is projected at $790 million to $810 million in the quarter, better than the $760 million to $780 million expected … Regulators gave Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. antitrust clearance to move ahead with its acquisition of Red Bank, N.J.-based GlobespanVirata Inc. … Irvine-based Interplay Entertainment Corp. said it sold the rights to its “Galleon: Islands of Mystery” game to the UK’s SCi Games Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. Interplay is a unit of France’s Titus Interactive SA … Garden Grove-based DPAC Technologies Inc. said Chief Executive Ted Bruce resigned. DPAC named board member Creighton “Kim” Early as interim chief executive.
HEALTHCARE
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. named Scott Garrett, president of the company’s dominant clinical diagnostic unit, president and chief operating officer. Chairman and Chief Executive John P. Wareham had held Garrett’s new titles. Garrett is set to still oversee the clinical diagnostic unit, as well as Beckman’s struggling biomedical research arm … Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said it plans to buy Fort Lee, N.J.-based Percutaneous Valve Technologies Inc. for $125 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter … Cypress-based Pacifi-Care Health Systems Inc. plans a two-for-one stock split on Jan. 20 for shareholders as of Jan. 7 … Irvine-based Trim-edyne Inc. said it will make side-firing laser needles that will be used with Israel’s Lumenis Ltd.’s lasers used to treat herniated or ruptured lumbar discs. The deal is part of a lawsuit settlement … Tustin-based Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it won a European patent for a portion of its Vascular Targeting Agent, cancer treatment … Irvine-based Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it enrolled enough patients for a clinical trial of Xibrom, its new topical, nonsteroidal treatment for eye inflammation after cataract surgery. Ista plans to file a new drug application for Xibrom with the Food and Drug Administration early next year … Irvine’s Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed an FDA application to fast-track its fluconazole tablets for the treatment of fungal infections.
REAL ESTATE
Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. said it plans to buy privately held Newport Beach-based Strada Properties Inc. for an undisclosed amount (see related item, page 3). Strada sold homes worth about $1.6 billion in the past 12 months. The company’s president, Steve High, will become an executive vice president at Coldwell, with Strada’s chief executive, Rich Meaney, taking a consulting role. The deal is expected to close next year.
FINANCE
Irvine-based mortgage broker Instafi.com closed its operations and cut almost all 170 workers. Instafi.com had 350 workers at its peak during the summer. A skeleton staff is expected to remain at its Irvine headquarters to wind down its lending operations … Donald P. Kennedy, 85, stepped down as chairman of Santa Ana-based First American Corp., which his grandfather founded in 1889. Kennedy was given a chairman emeritus title, with his son, Parker S. Kennedy, taking over as chairman and assuming the new post of chief executive. Parker Kennedy had led the company as president … Newport Beach-based Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. priced a public offering of 2 million shares of common stock at $17.75 a share. The offering is expected to raise $34 million … The Federal Communication Commission cited Irvine mortgage company CPM Funding Inc. for calling consumers on the federal “do-not-call” list, the FCC’s first enforcement action since the list was created.
GOVERNMENT
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved to replace $2.6 billion of the $4 billion in vehicle fees owed to cities and counties after local governments threatened to sue the state. The payment will come from better than expected tax revenue and cuts,including $150 million in cuts to higher education and other programs … University of California, Irvine’s School of Information and Computer Science got a $20 million donation from an anonymous donor. The gift matches the largest ever given to the school and will be used to attract 10 top professors, among other uses … A proposed high-speed train linking Anaheim to Las Vegas got $1 million in federal funds for a feasibility study. The rail link would cost about $6 billion and is one of many transportation projects competing for federal funding.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: OC’s housing picture in November, with the median price of homes sold up 14.1% to $437,000, versus a year earlier, and the number of sales up 0.4% to 3,731, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Mixed: Orange County’s jobs picture in November, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.5%, versus 4.1% a year earlier, but the number of nonfarm jobs down 0.4% to 1,412,700.
