EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
Foothill Ranch-based teen retailer The Wet Seal Inc. named Peter Whitford, former head of Walt Disney Co.’s retail store chain, as its chief executive. Whitford replaces interim chief executive and company chairman, Irv Teitelbaum, who took over after the company dismissed former chief Kathy Bronstein earlier this year. Whitford said he plans to work out of Pasadena, where he and his family live. Amid slumping sales, Wet Seal has scaled back its expansion plans to 35 new-store openings this year from 69 a year ago. The chain has 622 stores.
TECHNOLOGY
Chicago-based PC-Tel Inc. sued Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. for allegedly infringing on its modem technology … Irvine-based Printronix Inc. said its current quarter sales are 5% to 10% below revenue of $34.8 million in its most recent quarter. If the sales shortfall continues, Printronix said it could report a net loss this quarter. The company blamed weakness in global markets, particularly in Asia, for the sales decline … Irvine-based Epicor Software Inc. named Michael Piraino chief financial officer. Piraino is the former president of Aliso Viejo-based Enfrastructure Inc. (see related story, page 3) … Anaheim-based Odetics Inc. said that Mitchell Field, N.Y.-based Frequency Electronics Inc. plans to buy its Zyfer Inc. unit for $2.3 million plus up to $1 million in royalties in the next two years. The deal was first announced in April … Aliso Viejo-based Smith Micro Software Inc. earned a patent for a video e-mail system … Australia’s Legrand Software Inc. said it will base its U.S. marketing and support operations in San Clemente … Irvine-based SSP Solutions Inc. said it plans to appeal its delisting notice from the Nasdaq exchange. SSP shares have traded below the 1 minimum level almost every trading day since February.
HEALTHCARE
Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., OC’s biggest hospital operator with 10 facilities here, said Chief Executive Jeffrey Barbakow resigned as the company faces federal investigations and lawsuits over its Medicare billing methods and plummeting stock price. Tenet’s president, Trevor Fetter, will step in as acting chief executive until a permanent replacement is found … Orange-based Sybron Dental Specialties Inc. offered to buy Czech Republic dental products maker Spofa Dental AS, which had $10 million to $15 million in sales last year.
REAL ESTATE
Newport Beach-based The Koll Co. said it’s taking property management and leasing in-house for its 68-building, 1.2-million-square-foot Airport Business Center in Irvine. Koll also will take over management of its 55,000-square-foot corporate headquarters … Irvine-based title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc. said it wants to buy the 33% of Santa Barbara-based Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc. that it doesn’t own in a stock swap valued at about $320 million. Fidelity National Financial offered to pay about $24.70 a share for the information unit, a 25% premium to the company’s stock price at the time of the offer. Meanwhile, Fidelity National Financial’s stock split 5-for-4 … John Laing Homes, part of Newport Beach’s WL Homes LLC, broke ground on a 376-home development at the former Tustin Marine base.
FINANCE
Carlsbad-based Southwest Community Bank said it’s opening a branch in Anaheim, its first in the county.
GOVERNMENT
The OC government’s worker retirement fund has a $734 million shortfall. The county’s generous retirement plan and weak investment returns in the past few years have contributed to the shortfall, which could be made up by issuing bonds to cover the gap, officials said … About 120 of OC’s elected officials and residents came out in favor of the proposed 11.4-mile CenterLine light-rail system that would connect Santa Ana to Irvine … A county audit found OC’s human resources department misspent unemployment insurance funds of $3.2 million on unrelated expenses. The county said the department’s spending might have violated state or federal law. Meanwhile, department managers are being investigated over whether they approved department job promotions faster than ones for workers in other government agencies … The financially troubled State Compensation Insurance Fund filed suit against Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, seeking to prevent Garamendi from what it sees as interference with fund management. Garamendi has questioned the long-term solvency of the state’s workers’ compensation fund of last resort … The California High-Speed Rail Authority nixed plans for a second set of railroad tracks connecting Los Angeles and San Diego. The cities of San Clemente, Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano had opposed the plan.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Sweden’s IKEA International AS opened a 310,000-square-foot store in Costa Mesa, about double the size of its Tustin location, which closed. The new store has 460 workers, including 200 from Tustin … Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. plans to merge its two Wyoming Technical Institute campuses with eight National Institute of Technology campuses to form new unit Titan Schools Inc. … Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said its Cypress-based North American unit sold 360,000 autos in 2002, up 6.5% versus a year earlier … A Santa Ana federal judge said Torrance-based Celestron International Inc. did not infringe on a patent issued to Irvine-based telescope maker Meade Instruments Corp. Meade has another patent suit against Celestron pending … Irvine-based Prandium Inc. said it’s considering an offer by an investor group that includes Los Angeles-based 180 Group and Lake Forest, Ill.-based Goense Bounds & Partners to buy part of the company for $6.4 million. Prandium, operator of the Koo Koo Roo and Hamburger Hamlet restaurant chains, among others, emerged from bankruptcy last summer. The company is looking to sell the Hamburger Hamlet chain in a separate deal.
