EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
Top Story
The Navy said it now wants to sell the 3,700-acre El Toro Marine base in one auction, rather than four. The Defense Department is pressuring the military to sell assets to help fund the Iraq war and other spending, officials said. The city of Irvine, which plans to redevelop the site into housing, commercial and park space, said the decision would benefit the city and likely would raise the price that developers pay for the land. An auction could come in fall … Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. said it took a $75 million charge to reflect a decline in assets after a disappointing back-to-school sales period. The teen retailer’s second-quarter operating loss grew 46% to $27 million from a year earlier, on a 14% decline in sales to $105.6 million. Wet Seal warned that same-store sales in the third quarter likely would fall by a percentage in the mid-teens. The company said its board had created a committee to explore its options, which analysts say could include bankruptcy.
Santa Clara-based McAfee Inc. plans to buy privately held Foundstone Inc. of Mission Viejo for about $86 million. The deal is set to close within 60 days … Laguna Niguel-based Bitfone Corp. bought Toronto’s Mobile Diagnostix Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The maker of software for mobile phones plans to retain Mobile’s 30 workers … Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. sent letters to a number of universities, alleging that their streaming video systems violate the company’s patents. The American Council on Education and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have advised the colleges not to pay a licensing fee to Acacia … Chinese telecom gear maker ZTE Corp. inked a deal to use chips made by Newport Beach-based Mindspeed Tech-nologies Corp. in its switches. Meanwhile, Mindspeed shares jumped 20% to 3 after investment bank Needham & Co. issued a positive report on the stock and said the company was on track to break even by the end of the year Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc. named venture capitalist Linda Fayne Levinson to its board.
HEALTHCARE
Long Beach-based Memorial Health Services Inc. said it plans to buy San Clemente Hospital and Medical Center, which has 73 beds and is doctor-owned. Memorial plans to operate the San Clemente hospital under the license held by its Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills … Irvine-based Cardiac Science Inc. licensed its defibrillators to Bothell, Wash.-based Quinton Cardiology Systems Inc. Quinton will sell them under its name to hospitals and medical offices.
Anaheim’s City Council gave initial approval for a plan to develop housing, commercial and retail space on 820 acres near Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The area, dubbed “Platinum Triangle,” could see more than 9,000 new apartments. A final vote is expected this week, with the city considering projects likely in fall Santa Ana-based First American Corp. bought Northwest Title Co. of McMinnville, Ore., for undisclosed terms.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said it plans to open a 25-worker Southern California regional office in Costa Mesa. The private board, created in the wake of the accounting reform Sarbanes-Oxley Act, oversees the nation’s auditors.
Coast Community College District trustees extended the deadline to Dec. 1 for KOCE-TV Channel 50’s foundation to pay $7.9 million to buy the station. The Federal Communications Commission has yet to approve the license transfer to the KOCE Foundation. Meanwhile, religious broadcaster Daystar Television Network has sued the district, arguing its bid for the PBS affiliate should have been accepted … University of California, Irvine’s undergraduate school ranked No. 12 on U.S. News & World Report’s list of the nation’s best public universities. It ranked No. 43 among all public and private schools; last year it was No. 45.
Garden Grove is considering a sale of up to 45 acres to the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians to build a casino. City officials also said they talked to Las Vegas developer Steve Wynn about a casino project, though both sides said there were no negotiations. Garden Grove is looking at a parcel of Harbor Boulevard just south of Disneyland for the project. Opposition to the plan is expected to be strong … Irvine auto-repair chain Caliber Collision Centers was asked to pay the state $5.8 million to settle a consumer-fraud lawsuit, which accused the company of charging for parts and services never provided and found evidence of billing irregularities Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said its board OK’d a plan to buy up to $50 million worth of its stock. The surfwear retailer spent about $75 million buying its stock in the past two quarters … Huntington Beach-based Chicago Pizza & Brewery Inc. officially changed its name to BJ’s Restaurants Inc. and its stock symbol to “BJRL” … Newport Beach-based Universal Guardian Holdings Inc. said it won a $3.7 million pact to provide security in Afghanistan for International Relief and Development Inc.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Down: Orange County’s jobs picture in July, with the unemployment rate up 0.1% to 3.7% and nonfarm payroll down 8,100 jobs, versus June, according to the state Economic Development Department.
Down: OC’s housing market in July, with the number of homes sold off 11.7% to 4,193, versus June, and the median price of homes sold down 2.8% from June to $525,000, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Up: OC’s hotel picture in the first half of the year, with occupancy at 71.7%, versus 66.2% a year earlier, and the average room rate up 3.3% to $114.46, according to PKF Consulting.
