EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
Newport Beach-based Jazz Semicond-uctor Inc. filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq that could raise as much as $150 million. The semiconductor maker is a spinoff of Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc., which still owns a big stake in Jazz. Other shareholders include Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group and Greensboro, N.C.-based RF Micro Devices Inc. Jazz has yet to say when the offering will be held or how many shares it will sell to the public. The stock sale will be managed by Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. and Lehman Brothers Inc., with SG Cowen Securities Corp., Wachovia Corp., Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and Needham & Co. also participating … Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. learned it lost on a bid for up to $2 billion in Iraq-related reconstruction work. The Army Corps of Engineers named Houston-based Halliburton Co. and a partnership between Pasadena-based Parsons Corp. and Australia’s Worley Group Ltd. as winners of a $1.2 billion contract in northern Iraq and $800 million in southern Iraq, respectively. The loss came a few days after Fluor was awarded up to $1.5 billion worth of work at U.S. military operations around the world.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based Best Software Inc. said it bought the 11-worker business software development team from Macabe Associates in Seattle for undisclosed terms.
HEALTHCARE
Workers at Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare Corp.’s Garden Grove Hospital voted to join the Service Employees International Union … Shares of Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. rose 8% to 69 after the federal government raised Medicare patient reimbursement rates a bigger-than-expected 10.6% for private health insurers … Irvine-based defibrillator maker Cardiac Science Inc. said it inked a deal with San Diego-based Premier Inc., a medical products buying group that represents more than 200 hospitals and healthcare facilities.
FINANCE
The FBI arrested James Paul Lewis, who is accused of operating a Ponzi investment scheme out of his Lake Forest-based Financial Advisory Consultants. Prosecutors have filed one fraud count against Lewis, who was found at a Houston motel. Federal prosecutors suspect Lewis bilked more than 3,000 clients out of $814 million in his investment scheme.
GOVERNMENT
John Wayne Airport said its passenger traffic grew 8% to 8.5 million in 2003, versus a year earlier. Traffic grew 8.5% to 470,000 in December, versus a year earlier.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. agreed to pay $1.3 million to 500 former store managers who had accused the teen apparel maker of not paying for overtime work. Wet Seal admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. In a separate suit, Wet Seal said it would pay $90,000 to four former workers of Los Angeles-based D.T. Sewing, a onetime sewing contractor for Wet Seal. The workers said D.T. Sewing paid them $4 an hour for up to 68 hours of work per week for a couple of years. Wet Seal also agreed to pay $40,000 to Bet Tzedek Legal Services, which represented the workers. Wet Seal said it agreed to make the payment despite claiming it shouldn’t be legally liable for the claim … Cynthia Harriss, former president of the Disneyland Resort, has joined Gap Inc. as president of its outlet division. Harriss worked for Gap Chief Executive Paul Pressler when he was president of the Disneyland Resort and then head of Walt Disney Co.’s Parks & Resorts unit. Pressler left Disney in 2002 for Gap’s top job. Harriss resigned from her Disney post in October … Rancho Santa Margarita-based Palomar Products Inc. won a contract from Boeing Co., which is building four 737s for the Air Force. Palomar’s contract is for a communications defense system for the aircraft … Costa Mesa-based Water Pik Technologies Inc. said it bought Jacksonville, Fla.-based Huron Tech Systems for $10 million. Huron Tech, a unit of Finnchem USA Inc., makes salt chlorinators and other devices for pools and spas. The unit had sales of $6.2 million last year … Irvine-based Keith Cos. won a $6.3 million deal to provide engineering, mapping and some construction work on a 1,416-home development in Riverside County built by Van Nuys-based RWR Homes … Aliso Viejo-based RemedyTemp Inc. said it bought Dallas-based Texas Temporaries Inc. for undisclosed terms. The temp worker agency, which had revenue of $4.3 million last year, was a RemedyTemp franchisee … Orange County philanthropist Marion Knott donated $5 million to Chapman University, which is raising $31 million to build a new 1.7-acre film school. Knott is the daughter of Knott’s Berry Farm founder Walter Knott … Western State University College of Law in Fullerton sued the American Bar Association, which is trying to take away the law school’s provisional approval status. The law school said the bar association has a “historic hostility” toward for-profit schools … Ballet Pacifica’s artistic director, Christina Lyon, quit seven weeks after taking the post. A week earlier, the Irvine-based dance company said it planned to cancel seven spring performances amid funding problems.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: Orange County’s housing picture in December, with the median price of homes sold up 21.3% to $467,000, versus a year earlier, and the number of homes sold up 5.8% to 4,693, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Up: Rent at OC’s biggest apartment complexes last year, up 4% to $1,268, versus a year earlier, according to Novato-based RealFacts.
