Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
Newport Beach’s Paul Merage, who created a cultural icon by inventing Hot Pockets, said he plans to give $30 million to the business school at the University of California, Irvine. Merage and his brother, David, sold Chef America to Nestl & #233; SA in 2002 for $2.6 billion. The donation is the largest in UC Irvine’s history. The school is renaming the Graduate School of Management as the Paul Merage School of Business in honor of the gift, which marks the beginning of the business school’s $100 million fund-raising bid. The gift includes a $17.5 million initial payment and $12.5 million more after the death of Merage, 61, and his wife.
Shares of Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. surged after the disk drive maker told investors that it would beat profit forecasts in the March quarter on higher-than-expected prices for its desktop PC drives. The company said it now expects to post net income of $60.5 million to $64.6 million in the quarter, nearly double an earlier estimate … Newport Beach-based video game developer Collective Inc. is combining with Backbone Entertainment of Emeryville to create a new company based in Los Angeles. The two companies plan to form Foundation 9 Entertainment Inc. Terms weren’t disclosed. Jon Goldman, Backbone’s chief executive, is set to run the new company.
Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc. signed a licensing deal to develop and market its Posurdex back-of-the-eye treatment with Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co. of Japan. Under the deal, Sanwa will develop and market Posurdex in Japan and pay royalty and milestone payments to Allergan … Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. said it would participate in the federal government’s new Medicare prescription drug program. In an expected move, PacifiCare said it would offer prescription drug coverage to people enrolled in the traditional, fee-for-service federal health plan for elderly and disabled Americans. It will start offering the benefit next January and plans to set up a drug-dispensing facility at an undisclosed location … Quality Systems Inc., an Irvine-based medical software company, split its shares 2-for-1 … Brea Community Hospital was set to shut down as early as Friday, pending a bankruptcy court judge’s approval of a motion by the hospital’s trustee to close.
Saigon National Bank filed to raise $13 million to $15 million in startup funding in an initial public offering. The bank hopes to open this summer on Brookhurst Street in Westminster.
An appeals court said it would take under consideration the city of Anaheim’s bid to reverse,at least temporarily,the Angels name change. Lawyers for the city and Angels Baseball LP argued before the 4th District Court of Appeals in Santa Ana. The court did not say when it might rule on Anaheim’s bid for a temporary injunction reversing the Angels’ name change to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim … Passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport rose 2.1% to 688,066 in February, versus a year earlier, with the number of commercial flights dropping 2.2% to 6,679.
The parent of Irvine-based subprime mortgage lender Encore Credit Corp. released strong fourth-quarter results, its first since going public in February. The company, which makes home loans to borrowers with imperfect credit, reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.1 million, up 130% from a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter was up 30% to $32 million. ECC did $2.6 billion in loans for the quarter, nearly double the amount of a year earlier.
The Federal Trade Commission has come out against Irvine-based Meade Instruments Corp.’s proposed buy of Torrance’s Celestron LLC for the third time in 15 years. The deal, aimed at cutting costs for telescope maker Meade, could lead the company to move production from Irvine, it said. Separately, Meade said its loss would be less than expected for the year ended Feb. 28 on higher margins and lower expenses. But the maker of telescopes said sales would be about $112 million, down from a prior forecast of $119 million to $123 million … An appeals court nixed a $45 million jury award given to Newport Beach sports agent Leigh Steinberg and ordered a new trial between Steinberg and former colleague David Dunn. Steinberg had sued Dunn for allegedly taking confidential information and clients when he left their former agency, Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn Inc., to start Athletes First. The appeals court said the trial judge made a mistake by not telling jurors that a non-compete clause signed by Dunn was invalid … Irvine-based Autobytel Inc., in the midst of a multiyear financial restatement and facing delisting from Nasdaq, said its controller Matthew McDowell is leaving the online auto buying company.
