Compiled by Alisha Gomez
TOP STORIES
The International Trade Commission last week moved to ban imports of some cell phones with Qualcomm Inc.’s chips that were found to infringe on a patent held by Irvine-based rival Broadcom Corp. The penalty was softer than the one Broadcom was after. Broadcom sought a broader order barring sales of phones that already have entered the country. The Bush administration still must sign off on the penalty. Qualcomm could settle the patent dispute with Broadcom or appeal to a federal court.
Newport Beach-based insurance broker Alliant Insurance Services Inc. is being bought by Blackstone Group LP. The deal could be worth more than $1.1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Alliant works with corporate clients to line up policies with insurers. New York-based investment firm Lindsay Goldberg and Alliant managers and other employees own the brokerage. A sale to Blackstone could close in the third quarter.
Brea-based subprime mortgage lender ResMae Mortgage Corp. has been cleared to re-emerge from bankruptcy as a unit of hedge fund Citadel Investment Group LLC. Delaware’s bankruptcy court last week approved ResMae’s plan of reorganization, which involves the $180 million sale of its lending operations and loans to Chicago-based Citadel. ResMae said it expects the plan to become effective this week.
Amp’d Mobile Inc. has filed for bankruptcy, capping a spectacular rise for the edgy wireless phone company started in Orange County. The company got its start in Aliso Viejo before moving to Los Angeles in 2005. Founder and Chief Executive Peter Adderton, who lives in Newport Coast and owns about 5% of Amp’d Mobile, said the bankruptcy move was a result of the company’s “rapid growth” (see story page 16).
Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc.’s shares were downgraded last week by a Morgan Stanley analyst, citing potential competition from Johnson & Johnson and Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. for its wrinkle-reducer Botox and Lap-Band, an obesity fighter. Analyst Louise Chen downgraded Allergan to “equal weight” from “overweight.” Both competitors’ products could be approved in the next couple of years. Allergan should boost research and development investment to bolster its pipeline, as well as focus on capturing market share ahead of the potential competition, Chen said.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is selling plants in Puerto Rico and Switzerland in what the Aliso Viejo drug maker calls the last part of a long restructuring after its days of founder Milan Panic. Legacy Pharmaceuticals International GMBH, a Swiss drug maker, is buying the plants from Valeant. The deal also includes Valeant’s Reptilase drug, which is used to control bleeding. Terms weren’t disclosed. In the past few years, Valeant has sold plants, products, and in March, its longtime headquarters in Costa Mesa. The company moved to Aliso Viejo last year.
The judge overseeing bankruptcy proceedings of Irvine subprime mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp. last week approved the appointment of an examiner to look at why New Century slid into bankruptcy and the prospect of misconduct at the company. Separately, New Century last week cut 61 jobs,46 in Santa Ana and 15 in Indiana. The cuts are in the company’s loan servicing division, which is being sold to Carrington Capital Management for $188 million. The deal, set to wrap up this month, includes the hiring of about 380 New Century workers. New Century still employs close to 250 workers in corporate services, which includes human resources and administration. The company’s failed to find buyers for its wholesale and retail loan-making operations, which did about $60 billion in loans last year. New Century plans to auction technology it uses for making loans this month, but hasn’t seen any interest from potential bidders, according to court papers.
The Orange County Register named a new publisher last week to take over for N. Christian Anderson III, who’s run the county’s dominant daily since 1999. Marti Buscaglia, publisher of the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota, is set to take over as Register publisher next month, reporting to Anderson. Buscaglia also will oversee the OC Post daily and Excelsior Spanish-language paper. Ander-son is set to focus on Internet and other avenues for growth. He’s retains his title as president and chief executive of Freedom Communications Inc.’s newspaper and magazine group.
Shares of Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. rose late last week, a day after the apparel and sports equipment maker reaffirmed earnings through October. The company reported a loss of $4.8 million for the three months ended April 30, versus a profit of $3.7 million a year earlier. Revenue in the quarter climbed 17% to $604 million, from $516.9 million a year ago. Analysts were expecting revenue of about $574 million for the quarter. Quiksilver said it still is comfortable with its projected earnings for the 12 months through October of $65.5 million on sales of $2.5 billion. Analysts had been expecting 2007 earnings of $64 million.
