Compiled by Julie Leupold
TOP STORIES
Irvine’s Microsemi Corp. bought local rival chipmaker Costa Mesa-based Semicoa Semiconductors for $25 million in cash. The company said it plans to consolidate some of Semicoa’s plants and operations into Microsemi facilities in Lawrence, Mass., and in Ireland to boost capacity. Roughly 40 jobs were cut at Semicoa’s Costa Mesa plant last week. Post-acquisition, Microsemi will have two years left on the lease of the Semicoa plant. Another round of job cuts in Costa Mesa is set to follow in October.
Yearly job losses in the county broke the 25,000 mark in June, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. The county’s annual loss of 25,400 jobs in June is a jump from the average 20,000 jobs lost each month on a yearly basis for most of 2008. The county’s unemployment rate was 5.2% in June, a five-year high. The 1.7% yearly drop in June employment was driven by lost financial, construction, manufacturing and government jobs.
HEALTHCARE
Shareholders of Newport Beach’s TriZetto Group Inc. approved the company’s acquisition by private equity firm Apax Partners Inc. Nearly all, 99.8%, of shareholders voted for the acquisition with a handful voting against or abstaining. The healthcare software maker agreed to be taken private by New York’s Apax in a $1.4 billion buyout offer in April.
San Clemente-based medical device maker ICU Medical Inc. reported a big gain in second-quarter profits to $4.8 million that met Wall Street expectations. But slowing sales to the company’s dominant customer Lake Forest, Ill.-based Hospira Inc. held revenue flat at $48.6 million.
REAL ESTATE
Irvine-based mortgage investor Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. is buying a home loan servicing business from UBS AG, which in turn is making a $1.2 million investment in Impac. As part of the deal, Impac plans to issue warrants that convert to about 1.5 million shares of Impac, a stake worth about $1.2 million.
FINANCE
Irvine-based auto financier Consumer Portfolio Services Inc. took an additional $15 million in financing to add to the $10 million it received earlier this month. Consumer Portfolio funds loans from auto dealers, then packages them into bonds sold to Wall Street investors. An affiliate of Los Angeles-based Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Inc. will receive 3 million shares in common stock. Consumer Portfolio also amended its $120 million loan with Citigroup Financial Products Inc., in which its $87 million in outstanding debt was paid down to $70 million with the potential to extend its due date a year to 2010.
Irvine accounting services company Resources Connection Inc. saw its shares jump more than 15% last week after posting quarterly results that surpassed Wall Street expectations. The company reported a profit of $16 million for the three months ended May 31, up 9% from a year earlier. Analysts had been expecting a profit of $9.2 million. Revenue came in 18% higher than a year earlier at $236.7 million and beat Wall Street’s expected $228 million. The results sparked a rally in shares of Resources Connection, which has a market value of about $1 billion.
Newport Beach’s Squar, Milner, Peterson, Miranda & Williamson LLP, the largest accounting firm based in Orange County, has acquired Thomashow, Brown & Paialii LLP of Los Angeles. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Squar acquired Thomashow to broaden its business in Los Angeles, according to the company. Both firms will operate under the Squar, Milner, Peterson, Miranda & Williamson name.
EDUCATION
The University of California, Irvine raised a record $130 million from donations and grants during the 2007 and 2008 school year. The fundraising breaks the school’s previous record of $120.1 million raised during the prior year. Of the donations included in the school’s fundraising total is $20 million from The Irvine Company Chairman Donald Bren and $1 million from trial lawyer Mark P. Robinson to help fund the university’s law school.
OTHER NEWS
The jet leasing arm of Newport Beach-based insurance company Pacific LifeCorp ordered 15 of Boeing Co.’s next generation 737-700s. The $934 million order is the ninth purchase from Boeing by Pacific Life’s Aviation Capital Group in about two years. It follows April’s $1 billion order of 17 737s.
