EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TOP STORY
New Jersey’s attorney general sued Germany’s Allianz AG, PEA Capital LLC, Pimco Advisors Distributors and Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., charging that Pimco allowed Canary Capital Partners LLC to profit from what it said were improper trades in Pimco’s bond and stock funds. Federal regulators told Pimco two weeks ago that it could face civil charges for improper market-timing in its stock funds. Pimco has agreed to repay $1.6 million to the stock funds for losses associated with the short-term trading. Pimco bond fund manager Bill Gross said trading in the company’s bond funds doesn’t violate its prospectuses.
TECHNOLOGY
Shares of Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. rose 7% after the chipmaker said sales in the first quarter would grow as much as 18%, up from its former 10% growth target. Broadcom cited strong demand in its broadband communications and mobile and wireless businesses for the better forecast (see related story, page 1) … Henry Nicholas III, cofounder and former chief executive of Broadcom, gave $10 million to St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano where his children attend. Nicholas, who resigned from Broadcom last year, said researchers from the University of California, Irvine would work with students and teachers at the K-12 school … Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. said it plans to sell all or part of its 23% stake in San Jose-based SiRF Technology Holdings Inc., which is planning an initial public offering … Santa Ana-based Powerwave Technologies Inc. said Safi Qureshey and Gregory Avis stepped down as directors ahead of the company’s $407 million acquisition of Sweden’s LGP Allgon Holding AB. The resignations make way for two new directors from LGP Allgon when the deal closes as expected in the second quarter.
HEALTHCARE
Nurses at Santa Ana’s Coastal Communities Hospital voted to form a union. It’s the first OC hospital owned by Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. to unionize.
REAL ESTATE
The city of Placentia said TOD Properties LLC could start developing plans to build homes, retail and office buildings and a transportation center on 100 acres downtown.
FINANCE
Santa Ana-based Orange County’s Credit Union said it closed a deal to buy Coastline Community Credit Union in Long Beach. Together, the credit unions have more than $730 million in assets, putting the company among the top 2% in the U.S. … James P. Lewis pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of fraud and money laundering stemming from his Lake Forest-based investment firm Financial Advisory Consultants Inc. Federal prosecutors say Lewis defrauded 3,300 investors of more than $100 million.
GOVERNMENT
Directors of the Transportation Corridor Agencies delayed a vote on a $4 billion deal to merge the struggling San Joaquin Hills and Foothill-Eastern toll roads. Directors said they need more time to look at the restructuring, with a vote to come in the next 50 days … The Coast Community College District set a March 10 deadline for completing the sale of Huntington Beach-based PBS affiliate KOCE-TV to the KOCE-TV Foundation or talks would be cut off. A Dallas-based religious broadcaster has complained to district trustees that its bid for Channel 50 should have been accepted over the foundation’s … The Huntington Beach City Council voted to allow a July 4 fireworks show for the first time in 30 years. The show is expected to cost about $50,000.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Tustin-based Cherokee International Corp. priced 6.6 million shares at $14.50 each in its initial public offering that raised $95.7 million for the power supply gear maker. The IPO sale price was higher than the estimated range of $12 to $14 per share. Shares of the company were trading at 16.7 in early trading Friday … Kristina and Larry Dodge donated $20 million to Chapman University’s film and television school, which will be renamed after the couple. Larry Dodge heads the American Sterling Group of Cos. in Irvine. Chapman has raised $26.5 million toward its $31 million goal for the film school’s expansion … Greg Scott, former head of Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc.’s popular Arden B. unit, has joined rival Bebe Stores Inc. as chief executive of the Brisbane-based retailer. Scott quit Wet Seal in January … Walt Disney Co. and some 2,200 workers in the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union agreed on a new contract covering the Disneyland Resort … Denver-based Tuff Shed Inc., which has a manufacturing plant in Anaheim, said it bought Dallas-based Wood Master Inc. for an undisclosed price. Wood Master has about $26 million in annual sales while Tuff Shed has $80 million … Tustin-based ProFun Management Group Inc. said it opened its $100 million Space Center in Bremen, Germany … Huntington Beach-based Chicago Pizza & Brewery Inc. said it’s taking over the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant on El Toro Road in Laguna Hills. Chicago Pizza plans to turn the restaurant into a BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery and open in June … Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. said it plans to open a Bryman Institute campus in Columbus, Ohio … James N. “Jim” Rosse, chief executive of Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc. from 1992 to 1999, passed away at 72.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Orange County’s housing picture in January, with the median price of homes sold up 22% to $450,000, versus a year earlier, but down 3.6% from December, according to DataQuick Information Systems. The number of homes sold fell 12.5% to 3,052 from a year earlier and were off 35% from December.
