TOP STORIES
Sicor Inc., Irvine, will sell 10 million shares in a secondary offering in which a firm affiliated with Chief Executive Carlo Salvi also will sell 10 million shares, which were trading in the low 20s late last week; with the offering, Sicor will have 110.7 million shares outstanding and Salvi’s stake will shrink from 30.3% to 18.7% Western Digital Corp., Lake Forest, will sell its SANavigator software unit to Broomfield, Colo.-based McData Corp. for $29.75 million The Legislature passed a bill to increase workers’ compensation benefits and sent it to Gov. Gray Davis, who has not said whether he will sign it FlexScan Inc., Laguna Hills, said it will acquire 25 computerized tomography scanners from Tustin-based Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. for $35 million to $40 million (see related story on page 1) Broadcom Corp. co-chairman Henry Samueli acquired 20 acres on Bonita Canyon Drive in Irvine from The Irvine Company and donated the $20 million parcel for a Jewish Community Center.
ENERGY
A bill backed by Gov. Gray Davis to allow Southern California Edison to sell $2.9 billion in bonds to be repaid by higher fees on large electricity users was approved by the Assembly and sent to a conference committee to be reconciled with a similar Senate bill; the company said it could work within restrictions contained in the measure The state Department of Water Resources asked the Public Utilities Commission to require the state’s utilities to distribute electricity bought by the department under long-term contracts before buying and distributing lower-cost power available from other sources A Sacramento judge ordered that Enron Corp. documents subpoenaed by a state Senate committee chaired by Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, be kept confidential; the committee and Reliant Energy Corp. reached a confidentiality pact that prompted the company to start delivering documents.
TECHNOLOGY
Conexant Systems Inc., Newport Beach, shifted its CMOS wafer production to Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corp., which had been making about half of those wafers for Conexant already; the company also said it will offer employees new stock options to replace those made worthless by Conexant’s share-price drop since February Bankrupt McCurdy Circuits, Anaheim, closed its doors and laid off its 180 workers Parker Hannifin Customer Support, Irvine, received a five-year, $36 million defense contract to supply manifolds and cylinder assemblies for C-5 cargo aircraft The Defense Department successfully tested a Boeing Co. booster designed at the company’s Anaheim facility for use in an antiballistic missile system; meanwhile, Boeing’s Seal Beach-based space and communications group will build a satellite for a joint venture of PanAmSat Corp. and Japan’s JSAT Corp.; Long Beach-based Sea Launch will put it in orbit Quest Software Inc., Irvine, will acquire Maryland-based RevealNet Inc. Irvine Sensors Corp., Costa Mesa, was notified it no longer meets requirements for listing on the Nasdaq Small Cap Index.
HEALTHCARE
The FDA said Allergan Inc., Irvine, has overstated the benefits of its Botox neuromuscular treatment and failed to notify doctors of its risks in some promotional materials; the company said it had stopped using most of the materials and would pull the rest Medstone International Inc., Aliso Viejo, acquired a 25% stake in Swedish Arcoma AB for $1 million Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Genomic Solutions Inc. said it plans to acquire Cartesian Technologies Inc. of Irvine.
GOVERNMENT
Two other supervisors joined Supervisor Cynthia Coad in supporting a scaled-down plan for an 18.8 million-passenger-a-year El Toro airport UCI placed No. 10 among public university campuses in the U.S. News & World Report annual college ranking Santa Ana approved a tax on residents and businesses to pay for repairing the city’s sewer system.
REAL ESTATE
A San Diego Superior Court judge reinstated most of a suit brought by landowner Signal Landmark challenging a state Coastal Commission decision to limit development on the Bolsa Chica mesa.
FINANCE
Pacific Investment Management Co., Newport Beach, recruited Credit Suisse Asset Management’s managing director of European fixed income, Emanuele Ravano, to head its European fixed-income unit Buena Park-based Tawa Supermarket Cos. and East West Bancorp Inc. announced a deal to make banking services available in Tawa’s 99 Ranch Market chain Safeco Corp. acquired the Irvine-based Financial Institution Specialists unit of ACE Group of Cos.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Baring a last minute deal, Orange County NewsChannel was set to go off the air Friday Fluor Daniel, Aliso Viejo, was invited to bid on a $3.5 billion gas pipeline project in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates Shares of Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. fell from 52.85 to 32.83 in three days following a warning that its fiscal first-quarter earnings would not meet expectations; meanwhile, David Moore, co-founder, president and chief executive of Corinthian, was named chairman Quiksilver Inc., Huntington Beach, lowered its guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter and next fiscal year and its share price fell from 19.02 to less than 15 in midday trading Friday Oakley Inc., Foothill Ranch, said it had expanded its agreement with Venator Group Inc. to sell its sunglasses in 500 of Venator’s Champs Sports stores Wet Seal Inc., Foothill Ranch, will design clothes to be worn on the TV show “Popstars” and develop a retail line called the “Popstars” Collection Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA, Irvine, and American Suzuki Motor, Brea, agreed to partner in product development, parts procurement and some production HomeBase Inc., Irvine, has changed its name to House2Home Inc. and its ticker symbol to HTH.
