EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc. said it would spend $140 million in the next 15 months to close eight distribution centers, move more Santa Ana jobs to New York to consolidate its Canadian and American operations and close computer assembly operations in Memphis and the Netherlands; Ingram, which didn’t say how many of its 13,500 workers would be affected by the restructuring, has cut about 3,000 workers since early last year; meanwhile, the company said its third-quarter sales would be at the high end or exceed its previous forecast of $5.3 billion to $5.45 billion.
ENERGY
State Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said that last year’s power blackouts were “unnecessary” because big power companies withheld energy during the crisis; Dunn, who heads a committee on energy market manipulation, made his comments after receiving a report from California’s Public Utilities Commission, which has been given to the state Attorney General’s office; power producers say there was no plot to withhold energy.
TECHNOLOGY
Cypress-based Unigraphics Solutions Inc. plans to settle a lawsuit arising from its sale to Plano, Texas-based Electronic Data Systems Corp. for $172 million last year; shareholders sued Unigraphics, saying the buyout for $27 a share wasn’t enough; the offer since has been raised to $32.50, with the additional $30 million going to shareholders Troubled Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. hired two former executives of Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp., David Schafer and Geoff Boyce, to head its sales and marketing units, respectively; Lantronix has had to restate two years of earnings and write off assets and has said it is the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into its earnings restatements Santa Ana-based Powerwave Technologies Inc. said its third-quarter revenue likely would be in the $87 million to $90 million range, down from a prior forecast of $95 million to $105 million Irvine-based Printronix Inc. warned that its second-quarter revenue could be 5% to 10% lower than the $36.5 million it posted a year ago Legislation signed by Gov. Davis that severely restricts unsolicited faxes in the state could seriously impair Aliso Viejo-based Fax.com Inc.’s ability to do business when it goes into effect Jan. 1 CarParts Technologies Inc. moved its headquarters to San Juan Capistrano from El Segundo; the software maker has about 130 workers, including 30 in OC, and plans to move its remaining operations in El Segundo,a finance unit,to the county Garden Grove-based DPAC Technologies Corp. said its second-quarter operating profit rose 73% to $796,000 vs. last year on a 33% increase in revenue to $10.9 million Bankrupt Orange-based Worldwide Wireless Networks Inc. plans to sell its operating assets to Fremont-based NextWeb Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Sicor Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration has given tentative approval for its vinorelbine tartrate injection to treat some forms of lung cancer Irvine-based Cardiac Science Inc. signed defibrillator licensing deals with Pittsburgh-based LifeCor Inc. and Hungary’s Innomed Medical Co. for a total of about $1.3 million plus ongoing royalties.
GOVERNMENT
HomeHelp won an online bid for 131 acres of the former Tustin Marine base along Harvard Avenue; the company won bids on two lots for a total of $122.5 million Gov. Davis signed legislation that will allow the Orange County Transportation Authority to buy the Riverside (91) Freeway express lanes from the California Private Transportation Co. for $207.5 million,$72.5 million in cash and $135 million in assumed debt; the authority says it will take tolls on the express lanes and make improvements on the free lanes A Los Angeles Superior Court judge upheld Measure W, an initiative which killed plans for an airport at the former El Toro Marine base OC placed third with 104,618 technology jobs, behind San Jose and Los Angeles, on the American Electronics Association’s ranking of “Cybercities” in the state; the study said OC lost 1,075 workers last year.
REAL ESTATE
Managers led a buyout of Newport Beach-based Koll Construction, a unit of Koll Development Co., and changed the company’s name to Arris Builders Inc.; Arris projects include the Grand Pacific Resort in Carlsbad and church complexes in Rancho Santa Margarita and San Diego Residents of the El Morro Mobile Home Park filed a lawsuit to prevent the state from evicting them to pave the way for a $13 million campground and park Irvine-based real estate investment firm Sperry Van Ness opened a Woodland Hills office with four former executives of rival Told Partners Inc.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Irvine-based Meade Instruments Corp. said it plans to buy Thomasville, Ga.-based Simmons Outdoor Corp., a maker of rifle scopes and binoculars, for $20 million; meanwhile, Meade said its second-quarter operating profit fell 74% to $452,000 vs. last year on an 11.5% decline in sales to $24 million Irvine-based Diedrich Coffee Inc. posted a fourth-quarter operating profit of $858,000 vs. a loss of $2.1 million a year ago despite a revenue decline of 5.5% to $19 million; the company cited expense cutting for the profit turnaround Tuttle-Click Automotive Group plans to buy Santa Ana Chrysler-Jeep and move the operations to its Dodge dealership in the Tustin Auto Mall Bankrupt Anaheim-based Estrellamundo of California LLC shuttered its Y Arriba Y Arriba restaurant at Downtown Disney; the restaurant closing is a first at Downtown Disney Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. paid $24 million to Bema Gold Corp. and Kinross Gold Corp. to settle charges of design and construction failures at the mining companies’ Refugio Mine in Chile.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: Job growth expectations in Orange County, which see the addition of 23,200 workers next year, with the unemployment rate falling about 8% to 3.4%, according to a Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. economic study.
Down: The OC jobs picture in August, with nonfarm payrolls declining by 1,500 jobs to 1,412,900 vs. last year, the first monthly decline since 1993, according to the Employment Development Department.
Mixed: The housing market in August, with the median price of all homes sold rising 20% to $370,000 vs. a year ago, but the number of homes sold falling 8.3% to 4,678.
