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European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. bought Irvine-based Racal Instruments Inc. for $105 million plus as much as $25 million more for future contracts into 2005. Racal, which makes electronics testing and measurement gear, was owned by private equity firms Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and J.F. Lehman & Co. … Irvine-based IntraLase Corp. raised $86 million in an initial public offering of 6.6 million shares. Underwriters sold IntraLase shares at the top end of an $11 to $13 range, with the maker of Lasik surgery devices closing up 25% to 16.25 on its first day of trading on the Nasdaq National Market … Irwin Rose, researcher at University of California, Irvine’s College of Medicine, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Rose, 78, shares the prize with Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko of the Israel Institute of Technology for their work on proteins. Rose is the third UCI researcher to win the Nobel Prize.
TECHNOLOGY
Santa Ana-based MSC.Software Corp. said San Francisco-based ValueAct Capital Partners LP offered to buy the company for about $275 million. ValueAct, which owns 6.3% of MSC shares, said it would take the publicly traded maker of industrial and engineering software private if its offer is accepted. MSC said it set up a committee of independent board members to review the offer … Tustin-based SI Technologies Inc. agreed to be bought by Malvern, Pa.-based Vishay Intertechnology Inc. for about $17.7 million. The acquisition price could fall if SI has more than $12 million of debt when the deal closes. Shareholders and the companies’ boards must approve the buyout … Shares of Santa Ana-based SimpleTech Inc. rose 29% to 4.8 after the memory products maker said its third-quarter results would beat prior expectations. SimpleTech said sales now would be $74 million to $75 million, versus an earlier forecast of $60 million to $62 million … Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. debuted disk drives for laptop computers. The company primarily makes drives for desktop computers … Cypress-based remote control software and device maker Universal Electronics Inc. said it bought San Mateo-based SimpleDevices Inc. for $12.5 million plus a possible performance-based payment of Universal shares. SimpleDevices makes software that connects controllers for TVs, stereos and other electronic devices … Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. settled its patent fight with Agere Systems Inc. The chipmakers have traded patent infringement lawsuits in the past two years related to high-speed communications, wireless, disk drive and other technologies. As part of the settlement, both companies agreed to cross-license technology from each other. Broadcom said it would take a $27.5 million charge to reflect costs from its battle with Agere and other patent cases. Meanwhile, Broadcom said Ernst & Young might have violated accounting rules during auditing of its books. The potential breach came in 2003 and earlier this year when Ernst & Young was performing auditing services for companies with operations in China. Broadcom said it planned to keep Ernst & Young as its auditor … Shares of Tustin-based Cherokee International Corp. were down 18% to 6.6 in early trading Friday after the power supply products maker warned that sales and earnings would be lower than expected in the third quarter.
A jury was deliberating late last week in a case pitting Irena Medavoy, the wife of film producer Mike Medavoy, against Dr. Arnold Klein and Irvine-based Allergan Corp. Medavoy claims she suffered severe headaches from Klein’s injections of Allergan’s Botox drug … Shares of San Clemente-based Biolase Technology Inc. fell 15% to 7.2 after the dental laser maker warned that financial results in the second half of the year would be lower than expected. The company, which makes lasers used in root canal surgery, said the cancellation of sales conferences due to hurricanes and the impending release of a new device slowed sales of its existing lasers.
The Santa Ana City Council formed a panel to study developer Michael Harrah’s proposed One Broadway Plaza tower. The 45-day review will look at the cost and timing of a city referendum on the 37-story building, which would be the county’s tallest. The panel includes city officials, Harrah, opponents and supporters of the office tower … Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes said net new home orders in the third quarter fell 33% to 659, versus a year earlier. Slower sales, fewer home sites and stronger activity in past periods were cited for the decline … El Morro Mobile Home Park residents lost a bid to keep their homes at the park on Pacific Coast Highway between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach. Residents are set to be evicted in December, with the site being remade into a campground.
Santa Ana-based First American Corp. named Craig DeRoy president, replacing Parker Kennedy, the great-grandson of company founder C.E. Parker, who remains chairman and chief executive … Costa Mesa-based Pacific Mercantile Bancorp opened a branch in Long Beach, its eighth.
On the retail front: Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said same-store sales rose 9.8% in September, versus a year earlier. Same-store sales at Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. fell 8% in the period. Struggling Wet Seal warned that discounts in the third quarter would result in same-store decline in the “mid-teens” … Warren, Pa.-based Whirley Industries Inc. said it plans to buy Newport Beach-based DrinkWorks Inc. for undisclosed terms. The companies make custom-decorated cups and other souvenirs … Irvine-based engineering consulting company Keith Cos. opened a San Diego office.
