EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
ENERGY
Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed lawsuits against eight energy traders he says overcharged California for power.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. said it would lower its 2001 and 2002 revenue by up to 15% and take a charge of up to $2 million for the March quarter after an internal review found it had excess and obsolete inventory; meanwhile Marc Nussbaum will replace Lantronix Chief Executive Fred Thiel, who will be the company’s chief technology and strategy officer, and two executives left the board; Nasdaq said it would delist Lantronix because it delayed filing its quarterly report The Federal Trade Commission will seek a court order barring Irvine-based Meade Instruments Corp., the No. 1 U.S. telescope maker, from buying No. 2 Celestron International of Torrance due to monopolistic concerns; Meade has expressed interest in buying Celestron and was blocked in an earlier bid by the commission in 1991 Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. completed it buy of Santa Clara-based Mobilink Telecom for $125.7 million White Plains, N.Y.-based ITT Industries Inc. said it’s closing its 97-worker Jabisco facility in Costa Mesa by the end of the year; ITT will move production to other facilities around the country Irvine-based Valence Semiconductor Inc. said it laid off an unspecified number of workers and is looking for more funding Garden Grove-based DataLogic International Inc. said it won a $6 million, five-year technology consulting contract with the New York Fire Department Toronto-based Basis100 Inc. said it is moving its U.S. headquarters from Irvine to Jacksonville, Fla. Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc. dropped Arthur Andersen LLP and named PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as its new auditor.
HEALTHCARE
The University of Cal-ifornia reached a tentative contract agreement with its 8,000-member nurses’ union that averted a one-day strike and scraps a merit-based pay system; the union is set to vote on the deal today Share-holders for Irvine-based Radiance Medical Sys-tems Inc. and Irvine-based Endologix Inc. OK’d Radiance’s $8.4 million buy of Endologix; the new entity will take Endologix’s name and ticker symbol, ELGX, starting today Costa Mesa-based Ribapharm Inc., a publicly traded unit of ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., said its first-quarter operating profit more than doubled to $48.3 million on a 95% jump in sales to $57 million Irvine-based Endocare Inc. said it plans to buy Kennesaw, Ga.-based Cryomedical Sciences Inc.’s cryosurgical business for $4 million Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. licensed its MHC Tetramer technology to Japan-based Medical & Biological Laborato-ries Co.
GOVERNMENT
County Treasurer John Moorlach is talking to the Transportation Corridor Agencies about how the county could invest in the troubled San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road Backers of the Reasonable Airport, Park and Nature Preserve, a scaled-down airport initiative for the former El Toro Marine base, say they won’t meet a June 17 deadline to collect enough signatures to get their measure on the November ballot The state As-sembly passed a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Ken Maddox, R-Garden Grove, that would force the Orange County Sanitation District to upgrade its sewage treatment and bar it from renewing a waiver that allows it to dump partially treated waste into the ocean; the bill, which could cost residents $17 to $50 more per home per year, moves to the state Senate Backers of the Cottonwood Christian Center said they will seek a federal injunction to stop the city of Cypress from using eminent domain to force the church to sell its land for $14.5 million to make way for a shopping center; the Cypress City Council OK’d the deal last week The Seal Beach City Council voted to study the elimination of its Redevelopment Agency after residents protested a low-income housing plan for its Old Town area; the agency uses property taxes earmarked for the state to fund low-income projects The South Orange County Community College District approved a $16 million building for Saddleback College’s health sciences department.
REAL ESTATE
Anaheim-based Odetics Inc. wrapped up the sale of its headquarters to a private OC investment group for $22.6 million and will lease back the property for 10 years Irvine-based Racal Instruments Inc. sold its headquarters to New York-based real estate investment company W.P. Carey & Co. for $13.5 million and will lease back the 99,000-square-foot Irvine Spectrum facility.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Newport Beach-based Water Pik Technologies Inc. is one of several defendants in a lawsuit filed by Homedics-U.S.A. Inc. of Commerce Township, Mich., which wants to prevent Water Pik and others from making foot baths Bankrupt Irvine-based Prandium Inc. rejected a buyout offer from Washington, D.C.-based Austin Grills Inc., saying the undisclosed offer was inferior to its bankruptcy reorganization plan Disneyland reopened Splash Mountain after closing it in January to make safety modifications
Irvine-based Caliber Holdings Corp. said there is no connection between its $10,000 donation to Gov. Gray Davis’ reelection campaign and a settlement of consumer-fraud charges against its Costa Mesa auto shop operation for $8,000 and other sanctions; Caliber hired a Sacramento company to lobby the administration in March when the donation and settlement occurred; a Davis spokesman denied a link between the two Anaheim Hills-based Eastwood Insurance Services Corp. is being sued by four former salespeople for alleged unpaid overtime pay and other damages Ford Motor Co. named Peter Horbury executive director of design for Irvine-based Premier Automotive Group, which includes the Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo brands Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. said it won a $9.2 million engineering deal for Houston-based Conoco Inc.’s clean fuels program at its Ponco City, Okla., refinery.
TOP STORIES
Costa Mesa-based ICN Pharm-aceuticals Inc. appeared to have lost a high-stakes proxy fight with dissident shareholders to elect three board members (see story, page 1) The Irvine Planning Commission OK’d plans for 12,300 homes, 6.6 million square feet of industrial space, 730,000 square feet for retail use and 4,650 acres of open space on the northeast border of the former El Toro Marine base; the plan, which would add 7,700 acres and about 35,000 residents to Irvine, is set to go before the City Council Tuesday.
