Minneapolis-based Digital River Inc. said it plans to buy Aliso Viejo-based Commerce5 Inc. in a $45 million deal. Digital River is set to pay $32.4 million to Commerce5 and assume debt of $12.6 million as part of the deal. Commerce5 executives also will be granted Digital River shares if performance goals are met. The deal is expected to close later this month.
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. said its Agencourt Bioscience Corp. unit signed a distribution and supply deal with Affymetrix Inc. The deal calls for Agencourt to provide a nucleic acid purification device to be included in a genetic data processing device from Affymetrix. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said it expects revenue next year to rise 8% to 10% to $1.02 billion to $1.06 billion, slightly lower than Wall Street expectations. The heart valve maker reaffirmed its 2005 sales estimate of $1 billion. On
the profit front, Edwards projected earnings growth of 12% to 15% for 2006. Profit in 2005 is seen rising 18%. Meanwhile, Edwards said that the Food and Drug Administration has conditionally approved its plans to restart a clinical trial for the company’s less-invasive Cribier-Edwards heart valve that is inserted without open-heart surgery. The device maker voluntarily suspended the trial in June after it found that the procedure carried too many complications, with some patients dying Costa Mesa-based Valeant Phar-
maceuticals International said it plans to buy the U.S. and Canadian rights to Infergen, a hepatitis C drug, from Brisbane-based InterMune Inc. Valeant is set to pay $113.5 million in cash when the deal closes. It will pay another $22.5 million in subsequent payments. Valeant said the deal was approved by its board and is expected to close later this year.
Saigon National Bank opened its doors in the heart of Little Saigon. The Westminster-based bank raised slightly more than $14 million in startup funds by the time its offering to investors closed on Nov. 1. The commercial bank plans to apply to the Nasdaq stock exchange for a ticker symbol Tustin-based Sunwest Bank named Glenn E. Gray as president and chief executive. Gray joins Sunwest after a decade-long career with Scottsdale-based Finova Group Inc., where he most recently was chief operating officer. Previously, Gray spent eight years with Wells Fargo & Co. Newport Beach-based Downey Financial Corp.’s banking unit opened a branch in Corona Thousand Oaks-based Countrywide Bank NA said it opened a branch in Irvine. Countrywide has 14 branches in the Southland.
New York-based private equity firm Lightyear Capital LLC said it completed its acquisition of Seal Beach-based Baker Tanks Inc. from Chicago-based Code Hennessy & Simmons, also a private equity firm. The sale was for more than $500 million, according to reports Buena Park-based Yamaha Corp. of America signed a five-year pact to supply musical instruments to Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland Resort operations in Anaheim. Yamaha is set to provide instruments for use in Disney’s entertainment productions and rehearsal halls Foothill Ranch-based Kaiser Aluminum Corp. cleared a big hurdle in its bid to emerge from bankruptcy. The company said more than 90% of creditors have voted in favor of a reorganization plan for the aluminum products maker. The approval is one of the last steps in helping the company emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company expects to have a final hearing on the reorganization plan Jan. 9 or 10. If the court gives it the go-ahead, Kaiser could emerge from bankruptcy as soon as late January … The Laguna Playhouse said it received its largest gift ever, a $5 million pledge from James “Jim” Mellor and his wife, Suzanne. The Laguna Playhouse plans to use the Mellors’ donation, in part, for an expansion that includes building a second theater next to the 420-seat, city-owned Moulton Theatre Teen clothing retailer Wet Seal Inc. reported a net loss of $6.5 million in the quarter ended Oct. 29, down from a loss of $24.2 million a year ago. Sales at the Foothill Ranch-based company rose 16.7% to $129 million in the period. Meanwhile, Wet Seal said that a shareholder lawsuit against the teen apparel maker and some of its former directors has been refiled. A federal judge in September had dismissed the shareholders’ previous suit but left open the possibility of a revised filing. The latest class-action suit alleges that the company made “false and misleading financial reports and statements” between Nov. 30, 2003, and Aug. 19, 2004. Wet Seal said it will seek to get the suit dismissed Wet Seal and Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. reported same-store sales gains in November of 51.5% and 3%, respectively Newport Beach-based Collectors Universe Inc. said it plans to buy Canada’s Gemprint Corp. for $7.5 million. Collectors also is set to pay shareholders of Toronto-based Gemprint $1 for each diamond registration over 100,000 during a one-year period. Gemprint’s majority shareholder is Williamsville, N.Y.-based CVF Technologies Corp. The deal must be approved by two-thirds of Gemprint’s shareholders Irvine-based MotivNation Inc. said it raised $2 million in funding from undisclosed investors. MotivNation makes tools and toys for fans of autos.
