Compiled by Mike Mason
Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc. offered $3.2 billion for Santa Barbara-based Inamed Corp., which makes breast implants and skin products. Inamed already is considering a buyout offer from Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. of Scottsdale. Medicis offered to buy Inamed in March in a stock deal that’s now worth about $2.5 billion Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings, parent of the the nation’s largest subprime lender, cut 10% of its workforce, or roughly 1,500 employees. ACC unit Ameriquest Mortgage Corp. employed about 7,000 workers in OC before the layoffs. The company has about 15,000 workers in the U.S. Job losses were concentrated in the company’s Ameri-quest, AMC Mortgage Services and Town & Country Credit subsidiaries. Jobs were spared at its loan servicing division, wholesaler Argent Mortgage and auto loan lender Long Beach Acceptance Corp. Shareholders of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. gave near-unanimous approval to UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s $8.1 billion offer for the company. The deal still needs approval from state and federal regulators. UnitedHealth said last week that it refiled some papers with the Department of Justice over the deal. Despite the refiling, the companies said they still expect the deal to close late this year, or early next.
Irvine-based Microsemi Corp. saw higher profits that beat estimates for the quarter ended Oct. 2. Microsemi shares rose more than 10% after the company, which has been consolidating to boost profitability, saw adjusted net earnings rise to $14.1 million for the quarter, up 76% from the year-ago period. Analysts’ estimates for adjusted earnings were $12.8 million. Sales climbed 21% to $79.2 million. Analysts were looking for revenue of $78.3 million Irvine-based MTI Technology Corp. saw sluggish sales and wider losses during the quarter ending Oct. 1. The company posted sales of $31.6 million during the quarter, flat from the year-ago period and down 20% from the prior quarter. Net losses grew to $4.1 million in the quarter compared to a $3.6 million net loss during the prior quarter and a $3 million loss during the year-ago period. MTI resells data storage products from investor EMC Corp.
Ralph Cygan, chief executive of UCI Medical Center, was placed on temporary administrative leave, nearly a week after the Orange hospital’s troubled liver transplant program was shuttered. University of California, Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake said in a release that Cygan would be on leave until a report investigating the transplant program is completed. Drake appointed Maureen Zehntner, the academic hospital’s chief operating officer, as acting director Sybron Dental Specialties Inc. of Newport Beach raised its earnings outlook for the September quarter but said it needs more time to finalize results. The maker of dental products was set to release results last week. Now Sybron said they’re due next month because it needs more time to figure out its year-end tax liability. Sybron makes orthodontic and general dentistry products. The company said it expects to earn $20.1 million to $21.8 million on sales of $169 million to $171 million in the quarter Ev3 Inc. raised its offer for the part of Irvine-based Micro Therapeutics Inc. that it doesn’t own to $115 million from $110 million. Plymouth, Minn.-based ev3 Inc. already owns slightly more than 70% of Micro Therapeutics’ shares.
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG agreed to pay $1.1 billion for Irvine-based BAX Global Inc. Deutsche Bahn, which runs German’s rail network. BAX is a unit of Virginia-based Brink’s Co. BAX had $738 million in third-quarter revenue. It had operating profit of $22 million in the period, up 52% from a year earlier. The company offers overnight delivery services with a fleet of 21 aircraft. The company also arranges international shipping by sea and air Draper’s & Damon’s Inc., an Irvine-based seller of dresses for baby boomer women, is being acquired by San Francisco private equity firm Golden Gate Capital LP for undisclosed terms. The company, which runs stores, a catalog and Web site, has estimated yearly sales of about $140 million Bedford, N.H.-based American Remanufacturers Inc. shuttered its 300-worker unit in Anaheim. The auto parts maker is in the process of liquidating its operations Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. won a $1 billion contract to build and manage a natural gas complex in Qatar. Fluor got the contract from Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Anaheim landmark restaurant The Catch said it will relocate to make way for AMB Property Corp.’s plan to build some 500 homes in the Platinum Triangle. The Catch said it’s negotiating with Lennar Corp. to move to another planned development near Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: OC’s housing picture in October, with the median price of a home sold up 13.9% to $606,000 compared to a year ago, but down 0.7% versus September, according to DataQuick Information Systems. The number of homes sold rose 4% to 3,614 compared to a year earlier, but was off 11.2% versus September.
