Advantica Restaurant Group Inc. said it will sell its Irvine-based El Pollo Loco unit to American Securities Capital Partners, New York, for $114 million; terms of the deal include an investment by El Pollo Loco president Nelson Marchioli, and four other senior managers, who will be retained … U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor awarded Hennigan, Mercer & Bennett a $3 million bonus for its work for OC on lawsuits related to the 1994 county bankruptcy; the firm had sought $48 million … CKE Restaurants Inc., Anaheim, warned that it will post lower-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter, and will lay off 150 people at the Hardee’s HQ in North Carolina and move most of that office’s functions to Anaheim … Quest Software Inc., Irvine, said it will acquire Foglight Software, Pleasanton, for $86.3 million … Shares of chip-making rivals Broadcom Corp., Irvine, and Conexant Systems Inc., Newport Beach, both hit record highs after two-week run-ups of about 50% (related items on pages 3 and 16); Conexant unveiled a computer card that will allow PC users to view high-definition TV broadcasts … Datum Inc., Irvine, adopted a poison pill and retained Hambrecht & Quist to evaluate an unsolicited $58 million bid by Frequency Electronics Inc., New York … Supervisors voted to spend most of the $912 million the county will receive under the national tobacco settlement to reduce debt and build more jail facilities … Presley Cos., Newport Beach, acquired William Lyon Homes for $43 million in cash plus assumption of liabilities, and William Lyon and his son, William H. Lyon acquired a controlling interest in Presley via a tender offer … Founder and chairman Alfonso G. Cordero resigned from the board of Powerwave Technologies Inc., Irvine … PairGain Technologies Inc., Tustin, pleaded guilty to one felony count of failing to maintain accurate books and will pay $1.4 million in fines in a case related to the activities of investment advisor S. Jay Goldinger, who agreed to settle regulators’ civil charges by paying $6 million and was indicted on mail fraud charges … LVPS MicroFacility Inc., Huntington Beach, said it hopes to raise $5 million in an IPO … Western Digital Corp., Irvine, launched its high-end WD Vantage line of hard-drives … Microsemi Corp., Santa Ana, said it will close its Massachusetts-based Microsemi-BKC unit, lay off the unit’s 180 workers and take a $5.9 million charge … Nab Asset Corp., Mission Viejo, was delisted by Nasdaq and shifted to the OTC Bulletin Board for failing to maintain the $1 share price minimum … The supervisors delayed a vote on whether to join the 15-city OC Regional Airport Authority to make certain they wouldn’t be giving up control over the proposed El Toro airport; airport proponents and opponents clashed at the initial meeting of a group called Concerned Airport Neighbors; the Irvine council initiated zoning changes to allow residential and school uses in the Irvine Spectrum adjacent to the El Toro base and voted to spend $176,500 on a voter-registration drive … OCTA planners said a proposed light rail route could be shortened to free up money to fund street improvements in Santa Ana to make up for street lanes lost to the rail track (related items, pages 3 and 62); OCTA unveiled a plan to overhaul bus routes, with an emphasis on routing along major streets … Boeing Co. won an $82 million Navy contract to develop mine-hunting vehicles and said it will add 100 jobs at its Anaheim facility to do the work … Moody’s Investors Service placed its ratings of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Santa Ana, on review for possible downgrade … SI Technologies Inc., Seattle, said it will move its 20-person HQ to Tustin … PharmaPrint Inc., Irvine, said it is planning a joint venture with China New Industries Investment Co. Ltd. to sell herbal and nutritional supplements in Asia … HomeBase Inc., Irvine, said it will stop selling wood from endangered forests by 2002 … Rainbow Technologies Inc., Irvine, announced a joint venture with Beijing-based Goldensoft Co. Ltd. to sell software in China; separately, Rainbow said it had partnered with three other firms on an e-commerce security venture … FutureLink Corp., Irvine, completed its acquisition of Pleasanton-based Computer Networks Inc. for $13 million … The U.S. Senate approved a bill to raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour to $6.15, effective early 2002 Huntington Beach voters rejected a $123 million school bond … AlphaServ.com, Santa Ana, said it had received a $5 million infusion and it will try to sell a minority stake in its wholly owned NQL Solutions subsidiary; Jeffrey J. Dunnigan resigned the CFO job to launch a venture capital firm in Newport Beach … Kansas-based Hopkins Manufacturing acquired the Fullerton-based fuel-handling unit of FloTool Corp. … Alyn Corp., Irvine, named Robert L. Burr chairman and added David J. Edwards to its board; Burr is a director of Fleming Asset Management, which provided Alyn with $7.5 million in equity financing, and Edwards is its VP … Hellman Properties agreed to remove a golf course from its Hellman Ranch development plan, a concession to environmentalists … Furon Co., Laguna Niguel, countersued San Clemente-based ICU Medical Inc. in a patent dispute … Internet Business International Inc., Newport Beach acquired Tennessee-based Optical Brigade Inc. … Tom Seykora resigned as CFO of Litronic Inc., Irvine, and was replaced on an interim basis by Controller Ray Russomanno … A trade delegation from Vietnam visited OC … The Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register agreed to hire PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC to audit their circulation figures (story, page 14); Register parent Freedom Communications Inc., Irvine, named Colin Ungaro president of its magazine unit … The LA Department of Water and Power put up for sale (asking $3.5 million) a former power-plant site in Seal Beach now zoned for a hotel … Excalibur Engineering Inc., Costa Mesa, merged operations with San Diego-based Certified Metrology Services Inc. … KDS America, Santa Ana, acquired Mag Portable Technologies LLC, which will change its name to KDS Computers … A jury awarded $3.7 million to two women who alleged they were sexually harassed by their boss at the Fullerton office of New York Life Insurance Co. … A free-admission offer to veterans by Knott’s Berry Farm resulted in traffic jams on Beach Boulevard and nearby freeways … A county study concluded that bacterial contamination of Aliso Creek likely is caused by wild animals and pets, not sewage.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: The jobs picture in OC in October. Unemployment, at 2.5%, was down from 2.9% a year ago, and jobs were up 39,400 year-to-year (related story, page 28).
Mixed: The home-sales picture in OC in October, according to Acxiom/DataQuick. There were 3,933 sales in the month, up 0.5% year-to-year, but the median price ticked down to $244,000 from September’s $245,000.
Mixed: Residential construction permits issued in OC in the third quarter, at 2,234, 12% fewer than in the third quarter of 1998, but they were valued at $492.5 million, up 1.2% year-to-year.
Up: Commercial building permits issued in OC in the third quarter, which totaled $413.6 million, up 1.0% year-to-year.
