Compiled by Mike Mason
Irvine-based Westcorp said it’s in talks about a possible business combination. The finance company’s own plan to restructure is stalled at the hands of regulators. Westcorp didn’t offer many details but said it has retained Credit Suisse First Boston as an adviser. Earlier reports said that Westcorp’s WFS Financial Inc. could be up for sale to Wachovia Corp. or other potential buyers. Auto financier WFS, which is 85% owned by Westcorp through its Western Financial Bank, has a market value of about $2.8 billion Western Digital Corp. Chief Exec-utive Matt Massengill is stepping aside to make way for Arif Shakeel, the company’s chief operating officer. Shakeel is set to take over the Lake Forest disk drive maker Oct. 1. Massengill is set to remain as executive chairman.
Irvine-based Gateway Inc. said it plans to open a plant at a U.S. site that it hasn’t picked yet. The computer maker said 300 workers will staff the plant initially. The facility could grow “significantly,” Chief Executive Wayne Inouye said in a statement. Gateway officials are talking with state and local officials at several locations. The company expects to name the site during the fourth quarter. Gateway said it could operate the plant alone or with partners Tustin-based MTI Technology Corp. said it’s raising $20 million in financing through a private placement led by Boston-based investment firm Advent International Corp. The money will be used to support operations and growth, among other general corporate purposes Yorba Linda-based netGuru Inc. plans to sell its Research Engineers International business,nearly 70% of its annual sales,for $23.5 million to Exton, Pa.-based Bentley Systems Inc. The sale is expected to close before the end of the year, pending stockholder and regulatory approval. About 125 of netGuru’s 270 workers worldwide are set to go to Bentley, a computer-aided design company with yearly sales of about $300 million Shares of Anaheim-based DDi Corp. slumped after the contract circuit board maker said it was offering up to 100 million shares to stockholders. DDi said it is offering current stockholders the right to buy an extra 3.86 shares for each share owned at 75 cents a share.
PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. made their case for UnitedHealth’s proposed $8.1 billion buy of Cypress-based PacifiCare during a public hearing at Santa Ana City Hall. The hearing is one of two the state Department of Managed Health Care is having as it considers whether to allow the deal.
The Anaheim City Council approved The Irvine Company’s 3,000-acre development set for the eastern part of the city. Up to 2,500 new homes have been proposed for the site, which is called Mountain Park. The city of Yorba Linda has protested the development, citing traffic issues A judge said the former wife of Orange-based Ameriquest Capital Corp. owner Roland Arnall can continue to request financial information as part of an investigation into his finances. Sally Arnall claims that her ex-husband didn’t divulge his true wealth when she agreed to a settlement in a 1998 divorce Lennar Corp. officially upped its Platinum Triangle housing plans to 3,800 condominiums and apartments from about 2,800, according to Anaheim city officials.
Anaheim’s City Council voted to create up to 1,200 affordable housing units in the next four years by converting some motels into apartments, changing zoning for more dense projects, among other measures.
Brea-based Ventura Foods LLC said it wrapped up its $198 million buy of two businesses from Dallas-based Dean Foods Co. The deal includes Dean Foods’ Marie’s dressings, Dean’s dips businesses and a plant in Thornton, Ill. Huntington Beach-based Triad Financial Corp. plans to move much of its West Coast call center to a Dallas-area suburb. A spokeswoman for the auto financier said 270 jobs are set to move to the company’s North Richland Hills, Texas, call center from its current spot at 7755 Center Ave. in Huntington Beach. Roughly 300 people are set to stay at Triad’s other Huntington Beach office … Santa Ana-based Line-X, a maker of spray-on truck bed liners, has been acquired for undisclosed terms by private equity firm Graham Partners of suburban Philadelphia. Washington, D.C.-based Allied Capital Corp. provided $57.1 million in debt financing as part of the deal. Line-X has more than 500 franchisees for its bed liners, which protect against weather and heavy payloads Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc. said it got two Pentagon orders totaling $5.6 million for its lightweight ceramic armor systems. The Navy ordered $1.6 million worth of armor for seats in helicopters, Ceradyne said. The remaining $4 million order is for lightweight ceramic body armor for a new military program, according to the company. Shipments are expected in the fourth quarter and should wrap up by June Lake Forest-based Del Taco Inc. signed a pact to open three franchises in Washington state Dennis Eversole, chief executive of Irvine-based Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc., plans to retire. He’s set to be replaced Oct. 1 by Richard Taylor, the company’s senior vice president, sales, marketing and business operations.
