TOP STORIES
Shares of Broadcom Corp., Irvine, rose sharply on better-than-expected earnings, and the company announced a 2-for-1 split effective Feb. 11; Broadcom said it will acquire BlueSteel Networks Inc., Mountain View, for $110.7 million, and it licensed LSI Logic Corp.’s technology for high-speed Internet voice transmission … Conexant Systems Inc., Newport Beach, said it will acquire a unit of U.K.-based Oak Technology Inc. that makes wireless receiver chips, for $25 million … Western Digital Corp., Irvine, said it will close its Rochester, Minn., high-end disk drive plant, lay off the plant’s 420 workers and take a charge in the current quarter; the company also said it will post lower-than-anticipated losses for the prior quarter (related item, page 3) … Edward Muller resigned as CEO of Irvine-based Edison Mission Energy and the company said CFO Alan Fohrer will assume his responsibilities … Founder Collette Cozean resigned from the board of Premier Laser Systems Inc., Irvine, as did two other members, Patrick Day and G. Lynn Powell; new CEO Michael Quinn was elected to the board … Buy.com Inc., Aliso Viejo, pushed back its planned IPO to next month.
GOVERNMENT
An inter-party squabble broke over a campaign by top corporate executives to get social moderates elected to the county’s GOP central committee, a challenge of chairman Tom Fuentes; the New Majority Committee said it was more than halfway to its $1 million fundraising goal; founding members included Donald Bren, George Argryos and Henry Samueli (related item, page 3) The Airport Land Use Commission voted not to ease restrictions on building near the former airbase at El Toro; Tustin City Council voted 3-2 to endorse the anti-El Toro airport Measure F even though it is a member of the pro-airport OC Regional Airport Authority … The Irvine City Council rescinded its tentative agreement with OC Sheriff Mike Carona to drop its lawsuit opposing expansion of the James A. Musick facility in return for a downsizing of the plan … Orange County CoastKeeper filed a 60-day notice of its intent to sue the Irvine Co. over its construction site in Crystal Cove State Park … Wal-Mart donated $110,000 to the campaign against a Huntington Beach initiative that would overturn the city’s approval of a Wal-Mart store.
FINANCIAL
IndX Software Corp., Aliso Viejo, received $10 million in its third round of venture funding … Pimco Advisors Holdings LP, Newport Beach, said fourth-quarter earnings would be below expectations … First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, said it will restate its 1999 results to show a $55.6 million charge caused by a mandated accounting … Bob Gray, founder and chairman of St. John Knits, Irvine, received $2.1 million in deferred compensation last year after his family and other investors took the company private, SEC filings showed …Quality Systems Inc., Tustin, said it expects earnings and revenue to be flat for the quarter ended Dec. 31 … Bristol Retail Solutions Inc., Newport Beach, sold $1 million in preferred stock to an institutional investor … Magic Software Enterprises Ltd., with U.S. operations headquartered in Irvine, filed for a 2 million-share follow-on offering … White Cap Industries Inc., Costa Mesa, reportedly restructured a planned loan and junk bond sale, shrinking the total to $185 million … Alteer Corp., Irvine, received $4.6 million from three investment groups.
CONTRACTS
PairGain Technologies Inc., Tustin, received a contract from Chorus Communications Group Ltd. to provide digital subscriber line service in southern Wisconsin … Kingston Technology Co. Inc., Fountain Valley, said Best Buy will begin carrying its ValueRAM products … Baltimore Gas & Electric renewed its contract with Fluor Corp., Aliso Viejo, for support services at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant … TouchVision, Seal Beach, won a contract from the Tahoe South Shore Coordinated Transit System for 45 touch-screen kiosks … Iteris Inc. (formerly Odetics IDS), Anaheim, received a $1.4 million contract from the Virginia Department of Transportation for a wireless geolocation system … Pacific Gulf Properties Inc., Newport Beach, hired Winstar Communications Inc., New York, to provide high-speed Internet access in its 347 buildings nationwide.
WHAT’S NEW
Oakley Inc., Foothill Ranch, said it will debut three new shoe styles in June … Gotcha.com Inc., Irvine, said it will launch a broadband search engine … IntraLase Corp., Irvine, received FDA approval to sell a vision-correction laser … White Cap Industries Inc., Costa Mesa, postponed to Feb. 7 a special shareholders meeting to consider a management-led acquisition of the company for $240 million … Micro Therapeutics Inc., Irvine, received FDA approval to market two new catheters … Fluor Corp., Aliso Viejo, said it has teamed with DuPont Co. to design and build next-generation resin plants.
DEALS
Broadband Digital Group, Newport Beach, acquired Winfire, also in Newport Beach; both were founded by Chad and Ryan Steelberg … Transition Analysis component Technology Inc., Yorba Linda, agreed to be acquired by Mountain View-based Aspect Development Inc. for $15 million … Continuus Software Corp., Irvine, said it will acquire Pagoda Corp., San Francisco, for $11.7 million … EMB Corp., Costa Mesa, said it will sell its mortgage and real estate units to e-Net Financial Corp., Irvine, for $13.8 million … I-Flow Corp., Lake Forest, acquired Spinal Specialties Inc., San Antonio, for $1.5 million … Hines Horticulture Inc., Irvine, completed its acquisition of Willow Creek Greenhouses Inc., Chino Valley, Ariz. … Bancserv Inc., Santa Ana, acquired American National Financial Inc., Irvine … Anaheim-based NVS was acquired by Launch Media Inc., Santa Monica … Corinthian Colleges Inc., Santa Ana, acquired Torrance-based Harbor Medical College … Exult Inc., Irvine, acquired a portion of a Texas-based unit of Pactiv Corp., Lake Forest, Ill. … Los Alisos Development Co., Newport Beach, acquired the 72-unit Sea Pointe Villas in Costa Mesa from CT Realty Corp., Newport Beach, for $7.9 million.
IN CONCLUSION
Wyle Electronics, Irvine, named Thomas A Beaver president and CEO, filling the vacancy left by Michael Rohleder … Westminster police and federal investigators seized 23,000 counterfeit Microsoft mice valued at $1 million from a storage unit in Huntington Beach.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: OC home prices in December, according to Acxiom/DataQuick. The median price was $258,000, up $11,000 from November. But total sales were 4,272, down 1.3% year-to-year.
Up: Manufacturing in OC in the fourth quarter of 1999, as measured by Chapman University, whose industry index rose to 60.9 from 56.4 in the third quarter. An index of 50 or higher indicates expansion.
Up: Apartment rents in OC in 1999, according to RealFacts, which said the average rent at the end of the year was $1,037 per month, up 6.93% from a year earlier.
