EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
Boeing Co.’s Seal Beach-based Space and Communications unit won a contract from the Pentagon to develop the Army’s joint tactical radio system with work being done at its Anaheim facility; the contract has an initial value of $2 billion and could be worth up to $7 billion Irvine-based Microsemi Corp. said second quarter profits and sales wouldn’t meet projections because of weak military demand for its products; shares of the company plummeted 40% on the news Supervisors approved a John Wayne Airport expansion in which the number of daily jet departures increases 16% to 85 while a nighttime curfew continues; the move is designed to keep limits on the airport despite airline opposition and a Federal Aviation Administration ban on air travel caps put in place after a 1985 settlement limiting operations at the airport.
TECHNOLOGY
Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. said it bought the video and audio chip businesses of Red Bank, N.J.-based Globespan Virata Inc. for $21 million and 1.3 million Conexant shares Skyworks Solutions Inc., Conexant’s wireless venture with Woburn, Mass.-based Alpha Industries Inc., started trading under the “SWKS” ticker on Nasdaq; separately, Skyworks said it would cut 350 jobs, including 30 in OC, and is moving its executive offices from Newport Beach to Irvine’s University Research Park Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. restated 12 months of financial reports, lowering its revenue by $7.4 million and increasing its loss by $1.5 million for the period Anaheim-based MTI Technology Corp. inked a $7 million line of credit from MTI Chairman Ray Noorda’s Canopy Group, the company’s largest shareholder; MTI said it would move all production to its Ireland plant, cutting some of the 36 workers at the Anaheim plant; meanwhile, MTI said it had an operating loss of $29 million on a revenue decline of 34% to $14.7 million for the quarter ended April 6 Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp. said it would meet earnings projections for the June and September quarters, but shares of the company fell 16% after data storage bellwether Quantum Corp. said it wouldn’t meet expectations; meanwhile, Emulex started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the “ELX” ticker Shares of Santa Ana-based SimpleTech Inc. fell by a third after the company said lower memory chip prices would lead to a loss instead of an expected profit in its second quarter Garden Grove-based DPAC Technologies Corp. said it received a $1.7 million order for its stacked memory product from an undisclosed overseas customer … Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. opened a customer-service center in Shenzhen, China; the company said it hired Milpitas-based Computer Storage Services Inc. to make repairs and handle returns in China Irvine-based VitalStream Inc. was picked by Clear Channel Communications Inc. to provide software to stream music via the Internet Irvine-based Rainbow Technologies Inc. said its board approved a plan to repurchase 3 million shares of the company’s stock.
HEALTHCARE
The California Nurses Association approved a contract for University of California nurses that increases salaries and replaces a merit-pay system with one based on seniority Milan Panic, former chief executive of Costa Mesa-based ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. said he has formed a venture, Milan P Enterprises LLC, which will focus on global business and humanitarian issues Moody’s Investors Service raised the debt rating outlook on Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. to “positive” from “stable” after the company’s $500 million bond sale Irvine-based Cardiac Science Inc. said it won a $1.3 million deal to outfit hospitals in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran with its patient monitors and defibrillators.
GOVERNMENT
County Supervisor Cynthia Coad, whose term ends at the end of the year, pulled her support for Irvine’s annexation of the former El Toro Marine base after Irvine missed deadlines to set a “legally binding” deal to set aside $800,000 a year from the redevelopment of the base for parks in North County; the move could delay the Navy’s sale of the land for six months Meanwhile, the Navy said it wouldn’t sell parcels of the former El Toro Marine base until Irvine had annexed the land; the Navy’s auction isn’t likely to happen until spring next year at the earliest Irvine Valley College trustees said they would not pursue a proposed 30-acre, $463 million entertainment complex at the school An environmental group dropped a petition drive to force a vote on Irvine’s 12,000-home Northern Sphere plan, citing costs associated with the campaign The Cottonwood Christian Center filed a federal motion to block Cypress from using eminent domain to take 18 acres of the church’s land to build a Costco; meanwhile, a group that opposes a Costco store submitted a petition demanding a citywide vote on the matter Garden Grove scaled back a plan in which it would have seized and demolished up to 500 homes near Harbor Boulevard to build an entertainment complex; the council removed 140 acres from the plan, which still includes land that has about 100 apartments.
REAL ESTATE
The Irvine Company said it leased 1.7 million square feet of office space in the past three months in what it calls a positive sign for the hard-hit commercial real estate market Demolition work began on the $750 million, 30-acre Anaheim GardenWalk, a retail project by Price Legacy Corp. that’s wedged between Disneyland, California Adventure and a planned third Walt Disney Co. park.
FINANCE
Irvine-based WFS Financial Inc. filed to sell $750 million of auto loan-backed bonds New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, leased 107,000 square feet at the Irvine Technology Center for expansion space.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Sylvia West, president of Newport Stationers and a 1995 Business Journal Women in Business award winner, died at 85 Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. said it’s forming an entertainment unit,Quiksilver Entertainment,to buy and produce movies, books and TV programs Costa Mesa-based Hurley International Inc., part of Nike Inc., said it will launch a footwear line in the next six months A bankruptcy court approved Irvine-based Prandium Inc.’s reorganization plan, which will go into effect by early July Santa Ana-based Survivair, a unit of France’s Bacou-Dalloz SA, said it sold 25,000 emergency respirators to police in Washington, D.C.
