EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. was a bright spot in a bleak holiday season for retailers; PacSun said its December same-store sales were 16% higher than a year earlier and its fourth-quarter earnings would be above estimates … On the flip-side, Foothill Ranch-based The Wet Seal Inc. said its same-store sales declined 19% in December; the struggling apparel retailer warned it likely would post break-even earnings in the fourth quarter, far below analysts’ expectations; meanwhile, Wet Seal said sales comparisons would continue to be difficult in February and March, but should improve in April … Switzerland’s Roche Group and Costa Mesa-based Ribapharm Inc. settled its patent dispute over ribavirin, a hepatitis-C treatment developed by the OC drug maker; the deal calls for Roche to continue developing its own version of the drug, Copegus, but calls for the company to pay undisclosed licensing fees to Ribapharm
ENERGY
Nine companies will share costs of a $35 million plan to clean up 38 acres of toxic land in Huntington Beach; the ASCON dump site was favored by oil and other producers, who deposited toxic material from 1938 to 1984; state officials say they hope the land can be developed for homes once the three-year cleanup is done.
GOVERNMENT
The Board of Supervisors elected Tom Wilson as chairman; Wilson called a closed session to evaluate the performance of Chief Executive Michael Schumacher, who is under fire for allowing the county planning department to let an $18.5 million surplus turn into a deficit in the past three years … Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) was selected to head the new House Select Committee on Homeland Security … Work started on a $28 million project to widen Laguna Canyon Road by two lanes; the widening is expected to take four years and includes the realignment of part of the road away from a couple of lakes and building crossings to Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.
HEALTHCARE
The Justice Department sued Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., OC’s largest hospital operator with 10 facilities, for up to $323 million for allegedly overcharging Medicare from 1992 to 1998 … Costa Mesa-based ARV Assisted Living Inc. agreed to be bought by New York-based Prometheus Assisted Living LLC for $68 million; Prometheus, a unit of France’s Lazard LLC, already owns 43.5% of publicly traded ARV and plans to take the company private if the deal is approved by shareholders and regulators Santa Ana-based Powerwave Technologies Inc. warned its fourth-quarter sales would be $75 million to $76 million, at the low end of its prior forecast of $70 million to $90 million … Irvine-based Del Mar Medical Systems LLC agreed to be bought by Britain’s Ferraris Group PLC in a $10.6 million cash and stock deal … Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. said its profit would rise 15% in 2003, higher than analyst estimates; PacifiCare is boosting premiums to make up for the health plan provider’s falling membership … Irvine-based Interpore International Inc. won Food and Drug Administration approval to sell its Altius implant, which helps fuse parts of the cervical spine; Interpore said it would unveil its product by midyear … Newport Beach-based The TriZetto Group Inc. said it will license its healthcare administration software to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.
REAL ESTATE
Newport Beach-based The Irvine Company said it bought all the preferred stock of its Irvine Apartment Communities unit for $150 million; buying the stock, which was paying 8.25% interest, leaves the Irvine Co. debt-free and completely in the hands of Donald Bren … Newport Beach-based Pacific Mutual Holding Co. said it would close its PM Realty Advisors unit; 43 workers will lose their jobs with the closing of the real estate advisory unit.
TECHNOLOGY
Aliso Viejo online retailer Buy.com Inc. said its holiday season orders grew 35% to 806,000 vs. a year earlier; privately held Buy.com didn’t say whether the order gain resulted in sales or profit gains Anaheim-based DDi Corp. said two directors, Mark R. Benham and David Dominik, resigned from the struggling electronics maker; the former directors, who had been early investors in the company, had held board seats since 1998 Santa Clara-based 3Com Corp. said it’s suing D-Link Systems Inc., a Taiwan company with its U.S. headquarters in Irvine, for patent infringement.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc. said its board of directors is set to meet this week to consider Morgan Stanley’s analysis of a plan to let shareholders cash out of their stakes of the privately held company by selling shares to a fourth-generation of the founding Hoiles family; Tim Hoiles, leading the fight to allow shareholders to cash out, said he would accept a $200-a-share buyout price, valuing the company at about $1.7 billion, but is skeptical that a fourth-generation transfer would work; he threatened to sue shareholders unless they agree to buy his stake or sell or merge the company, which owns the Orange County Register among other newspaper, TV and radio properties, by Jan. 20 … Ford Motor Co. said its Irvine-based luxury unit, Premier Automotive Group, was on track to meet a goal of $7 billion in pretax profit by 2005, despite falling sales for the group’s Volvo and Lincoln brands and a $500 million loss by Jaguar … An appeals court upheld Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc.’s injunction against Italy’s Luxottica SPA, preventing it from selling some styles in the U.S. while Oakley pursues a patent infringement case (see related story, page 1) … Cool 94.3, OC’s last radio station broadcast countywide, switched to contemporary regional Mexican music from alternative rock; the change comes after entrepreneur Art Astor sold the station for $35 million to Burbank-based Liberman Broadcasting Inc. last month Major League Baseball said Costa Mesa-based Tickets.com Inc. and Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster would be the league’s ticket distributors through 2008; Tickets.com had been baseball’s “exclusive” provider prior to the new arrangement … The Walt Disney Co. raised admission prices $2 to $47 for adult admission to Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim; annual pass prices remain unchanged, after rising $6 in November … Seal Beach-based natural gas provider Enrg Inc. said it plans to buy Denver-based Blue Energy & Technologies LLC for an undisclosed amount … Keith Taylor, controller at Automatic Data Processing Inc.’s Zurich Payroll Services unit in Santa Ana, was charged with embezzling $10 million from the company in the past three years.
