TOP STORIES
OC supervisors moved to create a new office to manage El Toro airport planning, with a director reporting to the board and not to county executive Jan Mittermeier, who said that would violate her contract; a final vote is set for June 6 … Broadcom Corp., Irvine, is acquiring Pasadena-based Pivotal Technologies Corp. for $242.5 million; separately a Santa Clara County judge issued a preliminary injunction against Broadcom in a suit brought by Intel, requiring Broadcom to ensure workers don’t disclose proprietary information from previous employers Seagate Technology Inc. is closing its Anaheim disk drive components plant and laying off 600 workers … Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Irvine, is selling its Novacor heart device unit to World Heart Corp., Ottawa, for a 25% World Heart stake valued at about $58 million … Lantronix Inc., Irvine, hopes to raise $115 million in an IPO (see Special Report: IPOs, starting on page 27) … The California Medical Association sued Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. and two other HMOs alleging fraud under the RICO Act … Tiffany & Co. dropped a lawsuit against South Coast Plaza that sought to free the jeweler from a non-compete lease clause so it could open a store in the Shops at Mission Viejo … The NYSE suspended trading of Irvine-based Mossimo Inc. shares and will move to delist the company … Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc., Newport Beach, was sued by three landlords for not paying rent on theaters it closed … A UCI survey of county residents found 54% opposed to an El Toro airport, up from 46% last year … The Irvine City Council voted to spend $4.5 million to promote a “great park” at El Toro, including $250,000 to start a “Tech Coast Chamber of Commerce” as an alternative to the pro-airport OC Business Council.
GOVERNMENT
Orange County’s proposed 2000-01 budget includes a 4% jump in spending to $4.01 billion and a 1.4% increase in jobs to 16,242, and, for the first time, conditions some funding on performance … Newport Beach Mayor John E. Noyes in the ’70s and ’80s used an alias and evaded authorities seeking him on kidnapping charges for taking his children from his first wife, who had legal custody, it was revealed by the LA Times; he won’t run for re-election in November … Waste Management is sponsoring a referendum effort to overturn the Tustin City Council’s decision to award that city’s trash-collection contract to Federal Disposal Service … Kirkhill Rubber Co., Brea, agreed to pay a $35,700 penalty for failing to report use of toxic chemicals to federal regulators … State environmental regulators fined OC $125,000 and ordered improvements at the Bee Canyon landfill.
TECHNOLOGY
Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas of Broadcom were the two highest-paid executives in OC in 1999, the Register reported, with total compensation of $32.9 million and $31.8 million, respectively … U.K.-based Marconi PLC acquired Santa Ana’s Systems Management Specialists Inc. for $113 million … Conexant Systems Inc., Newport Beach, said it will acquire Sierra Imaging Inc., Scotts Valley, for $43.6 million … Tustin-based PairGain Technologies Inc. set a June 26 shareholder vote on its $1.51 billion acquisition by ADC Telecommunications Inc. … Printrak International Inc., Anaheim, received a $22 million contract to provide a dispatch system to the Western Australia Police Service … Emulex Corp., Costa Mesa, received a contract to supply fibre-channel adapters to Hewlett-Packard Co. … FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa, said it will acquire San Ramon-based Application Partners Inc.’s Sequis software line for $15 million … Datum Inc., Irvine, unveiled a new oscillator for cell-phone networks that the company said is less susceptible to interference … Boeing Co. is considering a smaller version of its Long Beach-built 717 jetliner … Shares of MTI Technology Corp. fell 42% to 8 on disappointing earnings … Printronix Inc., Irvine, warned its fiscal first-quarter sales are lagging year-ago numbers.
HEALTHCARE
Sanarus Medical Inc., Pleasanton, reported positive results in a trial of its breast-cancer treatment based on technology licensed from Irvine-based Endocare Inc.; shares of Endocare moved to the Nasdaq national market from the SmallCap Market … The board of CorVel Corp., Irvine, authorized the repurchase of up to 1 million of its 7.86 million shares outstanding.
FINANCIAL
Platinum Capital Group, Irvine, said it will lay off 38 employees, about a fifth of its work force, and close its subprime lending unit (see related story on page 1) … Santa Ana-based Benefit Land Title Co. and Benefit Land Title Insurance Co. were acquired by the title unit of Dallas-based Centex Corp. … The FDIC said Orange-based Franklin Thrift & Loan Association has engaged in unsound lending practices and ordered several changes in its oversight and procedures … Virtual Mortgage Network Inc., Newport Beach, sued Arthur Andersen LLP and O’Melveny & Myers LLP saying their withdrawal of services three weeks before a scheduled IPO resulted in the company’s insolvency … Downey Savings & Loan, Newport Beach, will install up to 40 mini-branches inside Albertson’s Inc. supermarkets in California.
REAL ESTATE
Robert Mayer Corp., Newport Beach, is seeking a financial partner for its planned 520-room Hilton Grand Resort in Huntington Beach … An OC Superior Court jury found that developer SJD Partners and its grading contractor, Ebersteiner Co., were not responsible for a 1998 landslide in San Juan Capistrano that damaged 16 homes … The Real Estate Temps unit of Strategic HR Services, Newport Beach, acquired San Ramon-based Temp Agents.
WHAT’S NEW
Freedom Communications Inc., Irvine, acquired the Irvine World News, Tustin Weekly and Irvine Spectrum News from The Irvine Co. … Buy.com Inc., Aliso Viejo, settled a deceptive-advertising complaint in New York … A Better Way of Learning Inc., Costa Mesa, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (see related report on page 10) A jury in Washington ordered Santa Ana-based Behr Process Corp. to pay damages to nine homeowners who contended Behr’s wood-finish products promoted mildew growth; Behr plans to appeal … Iomega Corp. awarded its $2 million to $3 million PR account to Costa Mesa-based Paine & Associates … Israel-based Dealtime.com Ltd. sued Shopping.com founder Robert McNulty, saying he did not disclose he was under investigation by the SEC when he invested in Dealtime and joined its board … A Santa Ana District Court Judge dismissed a suit by Suzuki Motor Corp. against Consumer Reports … One-third of OC employers plan to hire workers in the third quarter, and about 5% plan to downsize, according to a quarterly survey by Manpower Inc. … Disneyland issued refunds to visitors who paid $85 for a special event celebrating its Pirates of the Caribbean ride and ended up waiting in lines for hours to receive souvenirs they had ordered; the park also plans to expand its Fastpass ticketing system to up to 10 rides by the fall.
