Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORIES
The Irvine Company said it plans to build two office towers in Irvine at the University Research Park. The company has filed plans with the city to build two 12-story towers on Academy Drive at the research park, next to the University of California, Irvine. The buildings would total about 511,000 square feet and be the tallest in the 185-acre research park, which is dominated by low-rise office space typically favored by technology companies.
Boeing Co. said it’s closing down Irvine-based Connexion by Boeing, the company’s struggling in-flight Internet service for airlines. The unit employs about 150 people in Irvine. The company said it plans to take a $320 million charge for the shutdown, most of it in the current quarter. Beyond that, the closure should help profits, Boeing said. Boeing said in June it was looking to sell, discontinue or find a partner for Connexion.
Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software Inc. said it received a delisting notice from Nasdaq after the company failed to file its quarterly report on time. The company has not been able to file its complete quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission because of issues with how it granted stock options. Quest said it would request a hearing with a Nasdaq panel to keep its shares trading.
Costa Mesa-based Valeant Pharmaceut-icals International Chairman Robert W. O’Leary died after a four-year battle with cancer. O’Leary was 62. His career included a short stint as chief executive of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. (now a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc.), and as founding chief executive of St. Joseph Health System, Orange. O’Leary became Valeant’s chairman and interim chief executive in 2002, after a shareholders’ revolt led to the departure of founder and former chief executive Milan Panic. He handed over the Valeant chief executive’s job to Timothy Tyson last year. Valeant director Robert A. Ingram is the drug maker’s new chairman.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard Health Systems Inc. said it plans to sell the 131-bed Huntington Beach Hospital, 141-bed La Palma Intercommunity Hospital and 219-bed West Anaheim Medical Center to Victorville-based Prime Healthcare Services Inc., which owns four hospitals in Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. The sale is expected to close by the end of October. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Santa Ana-based title insurer First American Corp. said it took a 38% stake in Brisbane-based RP Data Ltd. of Australia. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. RP Data provides brokers, developers, appraisers and others with ownership and sales data as well as photos and digital maps in Australia and New Zealand.
Foothill Ranch-based Kaiser Aluminum Corp. marked another step in its turnaround by signing a long-term pact to supply Boeing Co. with sheet and light gauge aluminum plate for use in jets. The deal extends an existing agreement between Kaiser, which recently emerged from bankruptcy, and Boeing. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Santa Ana-based Acme Communications Inc. said it swung to a profit in the second quarter on lower expenses and solid revenue growth at its TV stations. The company said its revenue from continuing operations for the second quarter increased 6% to $9.5 million from a year ago. Net income was $3.8 million in the quarter, versus a loss of $1.8 million a year ago. The company operates eight, mainly WB TV stations in the U.S. It sold KUWB-TV in Salt Lake City to Clear Channel Communications Inc. earlier this year.
Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. said the Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an informal inquiry into the company’s accounting for stock option grants. The operator of for-profit schools had said in July that it had set up a committee of independent directors to review its historic stock option grants. The company also said it faces two shareholder lawsuits accusing the company, its directors and officers of breaching their duties with respect to the stock option grants.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Orange County’s housing picture in July, with the median price of a home up 6.3% to $639,000, versus a year earlier, but the number of homes sold down 36% to 2,779, according to La Jolla-based market tracker DataQuick Information Systems, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates.
Mixed: Orange County’ hospitality sector in June, with hotel occupancy at 77.5%, versus 81.1% a year ago, but daily room rates up 10.8% to $142.64, according to PKF Consulting Corp. in Los Angeles.
