Compiled by Pat Maio
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Western Digital Corp. said Chief Executive Arif Shakeel is stepping down, just a year after ascending to the top spot at the Lake Forest disk drive maker. Shakeel is stepping aside in January and plans to serve as an adviser to Western Digital through June. John Coyne, the company’s president and chief operating officer, is set to take over. Coyne took the president’s title from Shakeel in May. A company spokesman said Coyne had proven himself quickly and was ready to run things on his own. A year ago, some company watchers were surprised when Shakeel took over for longtime boss Matt Massengill, Western Digital’s 45-year-old executive chairman. Last week’s news was equally surprising and raised more questions than it answered about the relatively sudden departure of 51-year-old Shakeel. Western Digital also reported strong results for the September quarter last week. Profits rose 49% from a year earlier to $103 million. Sales were up 25% to $1.3 billion.
Irvine-based Avamar Technologies Inc., a maker of data storage software and devices, is being bought for $165 million by EMC Corp. The buy is set to wrap up in 30 days. Avamar is set to become part of Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC’s storage product operations group.
Irvine-based Gateway Inc. said it cut nearly 100 jobs as part of cost cutting to save $30 million to $35 million a year. The company expects a fourth-quarter charge for severance costs. The computer maker reported third-quarter net income of $18.2 million, up 20% from a year earlier. Sales fell 6% to $963 million.
Newport Beach chipmaker Mindspeed Technologies Inc. reported an operating loss for its recently ended quarter and said it plans to send more work offshore to cut costs. Mindspeed, which makes networking chips, saw an operating loss of $7 million on sales of $32 million in the September quarter. It plans to move some engineering work to China, Dubai, India and Ukraine.
Irvine-based go2 Systems Inc., a maker of software that lets users order and locate food and services via wireless phones, raised $13 million, including from Canada’s Geosign Corp. The company plans to use the money to expand its network. Go2 expects to work with Geosign, which publishes online consumer information guides.
Memory products maker Netlist Inc. of Irvine filed details about its plans to raise as much as $57 million in an initial public offering. Netlist, which makes memory boards for Dell Inc. and other computer makers, plans to offer 6.3 million shares at $7 to $9.
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. said that its third-quarter net income fell because of restructuring expenses and costs related to its $3.2 billion buy of Inamed Corp. earlier this year. The company’s operating profit also missed Wall Street expectations. Allergan posted an operational profit of $143.3 million, excluding onetime charges related to the Inamed buy. Wall Street was looking for earnings of $148.5 million. Sales were $806.8 million, up from $611.5 million last year.
Beckman Coulter Inc., a Fullerton-based maker of medical testing equipment and supplies, reported a higher third-quarter profit boosted by an investment sale that overcame a legal settlement charge. The company reported a quarterly profit of $47 million, up 31% from a year earlier. In the third quarter, Beckman sold a $50 million stake in Beverly, Mass.-based Agencourt Personal Genomics Inc. The gain helped offset $27.5 million in licensing fees in the quarter as part of a patent settlement with Roche Diagnostics. Excluding charges and gains, Beckman earned $42 million, in line with Wall Street’s expectations. Sales rose 6% from a year earlier to $631.2 million, above analysts’ expectations of $622 million.
Santa Ana-based title insurer First American Corp. said a special board committee found some stock options granted by the company may have been backdated. The company expects to see a charge against earnings as a result. First American also reported initial third-quarter results, with a 34% drop in profit from a year ago to $98 million. Revenue for the quarter was flat at $2.2 billion.
Alternative fuel systems maker Quantum Technologies Inc. of Irvine sold 6.1 million shares of company stock and warrants in a private placement for $10 million.
Irvine-based surfwear maker Ocean Pacific Apparel Corp. is being sold to New York-based Iconix Brand Group Inc. for $54 million by parent Warnaco Group Inc. New York-based Warnaco will get $10 million in the deal, which is expected to close in November.
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. saw a drop in October same-store sales, while Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. was up. Pacific Sunwear, which operates 1,000 mall stores selling surf-inspired and urban-style clothes, reported a 7.1% drop last month at stores open at least a year. Wet Seal Inc., which caters to teens and young women with about 415 stores, said October same-store sales grew 7.5%.
