TOP STORIES
Lead creditor Bank of America charged in bankruptcy court that Newport Beach-based Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc. paid more than $17 million in salaries, dividends and loans to Edwards family members in the months leading up to its Chapter 11 filing; the judge allowed Edwards to continue to sell assets and to use money promised as collateral for operations (see story on page 1) … Tom Thompson resigned as CEO of Anaheim-based CKE Restaurants Inc. and was replaced by Andrew F. Puzder, the company’s former corporate counsel who had been chief of its Hardee’s unit for two months; CKE also sold its 125-unit Taco Bueno chain to Red Tail Ventures LLC for $90 million … Intersil Corp., Irvine, will acquire SiCom Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz., for $191 million … Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, Harford, Conn., acquired The Atrium twin office towers in Irvine for $60 million from Hyogo Atrium Inc. of Japan … Henry Nicholas III, CEO of Irvine-based Broadcom Corp., called Intel’s patent-infringement suit against his firm “baseless” and said Intel “(relies) on litigation as a standard business tactic”; meanwhile, Broadcom completed its acquisition of Altima Communications … The Irvine Company and the Donald Bren Foundation said they will give $25 million over several years to area public schools.
TECHNOLOGY
Two shareholders of Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp. filed suit against Internet Wire and Bloomberg News alleging negligence in their dissemination of a hoax news release that caused the company’s share price to fall more than 60% … NASA told Boeing Co.’s Seal Beach-based Space and Communications Unit to suspend work on a propulsion module for the International Space Station that is 18 months behind schedule and 15% over budget, pending a review … Newport Corp., Irvine, acquired Unique Equipment Co., Chandler, Ariz. … Odetics Inc., Anaheim, raised $17.1 million in a private placement … Western Digital Corp., Irvine, will raise $15 million in a private placement of 2.8 million shares … Comarco Inc., Irvine, received a $10 million order for its universal power adapters from Targus Group International Inc., Anaheim … Aspeon Inc., Irvine, delayed its fiscal fourth quarter financial report a second time and its shares fell 24% to 2 3/4 on the news; meanwhile, Aspeon received a $1.1 million order for its touch-screen point-of-sale computers from Northlake Foods Inc., Tampa, Fla., operator of 150 Waffle House restaurants … … The Canadian unit of Ingram Micro Inc., Santa Ana, acquired Beamscope Canada Inc., Richmond Hill, Ontario … Sync Research Inc., Irvine, was merged with a unit of Santa Monica-based Osicom Technologies Inc. to form San Diego-based Entrada Networks Inc., trading under the symbol ESAN … Y Media Corp., Laguna Hills, raised $7.5 million in a sale of debt securities … John W. Diehl Jr. resigned as CFO of LMKI Inc., Irvine, and was replaced by a three-person committee of outside accountants … Alpha Microsystems Inc., Santa Ana, dba AlphaServ.com, changed its name to NQL Inc. and its Nasdaq symbol to NQLI.
HEALTHCARE
ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. Chairman Milan Panic said he likely will not be chairman of either unit the Costa Mesa company plans to spin off and ICN may not retain 80% of the units as originally planned but rather give those stakes to shareholders as dividends; dissident stakeholder Special Situations Partners Inc. said the latter plan would be subject to heavy taxes and accused Panic of making offers in bad faith; meanwhile, ICN received FDA approval to market a laser wrinkle-removal technology … Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Irvine, completed the sale of its Bentley cardiopulmonary product line to Jostra AG for $30 million (see story on page 4) … Medstone International Inc., Aliso Viejo, received FDA approval to market its kidney-stone break-up device for treatment of gall stones as well; Medstone shares rose 43% to 7 15/16 on the news … Irvine-based Endocare Inc. said its Cryocare cryoablation anti-tumor system was used for the first time in the U.S. to treat lung cancer … Dentalxchange.com Inc., Irvine, acquired Dentisoft Inc., Sacramento.
GOVERNMENT
The Legislature passed and sent to the governor a bill to appropriate $500,000 for an appraisal of the 91 Express Lanes … A jury found Santa Ana Councilman Ted Moreno guilty of 25 counts of extortion, money laundering and mail fraud … Sheriff Mike Carona said he would drop his compromise plan for the expansion of the James A. Musick Branch Jail because he could not get a majority of the Board of Supervisors to back it; Irvine and Lake Forest which said they would renew legal efforts to block any expansion.
FINANCE
First American Corp., Santa Ana, acquired Factual Business Information, Miami … Sy Jacobs, representative of a group holding 9% of BYL Bancorp, Orange, that has advocated its sale, was added to the firm’s board (see related story on page 35) … The SEC filed suit against Michael A. Furr of Coto de Caza, alleging he promoted companies on his Web site and on radio, including disseminating false information, and accepted shares in those companies as payment for the promotion.
REAL ESTATE
Standard Pacific Corp., Irvine, plans to sell $125 million in debt securities … Health Care Property Investors Inc., Newport Beach, sold $83 million in debt securities (see related story on page 31).
WHAT’S NEW
Resources Connection Inc., Costa Mesa, said it hopes to raise $103.5 million in an IPO … Corinthian Colleges Inc., Santa Ana, acquired the four-campus Educorp Inc., Los Angeles … Collectors Universe Inc., Newport Beach, and Shop At Home Inc. partnered to sell high-end collectibles on the Shop At Home television program and Web site … Renick Cadillac, Fullerton, acquired Subaru of Orange County, renamed it Renick Subaru and said it will move the dealership from Huntington Beach to Fullerton … Composite Solutions Inc., San Diego, completed its acquisition of Huntington Beach-based Anchor Reinforcements, which CSI officials said will continue to operate in OC with the same personnel … Topaz Caf & #233; closed after failing to renew its lease with the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, which is seeking a new operator for its restaurant space … The Huntington Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau canceled its printing contract with a firm tied to Mayor Dave Garofalo … Police raided the Orange offices of Ace Towing and arrested owner Naser Saleh and three drivers on charges of conspiracy, extortion and auto theft for allegedly demanding extra money from car owners to release their vehicles … Hyundai Motor America, Fountain Valley, signed on as the first TV sponsor for the Women’s United Soccer Association.
