EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
Directors of Costa Mesa-based drug maker Ribapharm Inc. urged shareholders to reject the $5.60 a share offer for the company from ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. ICN, which owns 80% of Ribapharm, wants to buy back the rest of the company that was spun off at $10 a share last year. Ribapharm said it adopted a shareholder rights plan that will be triggered when another company tries to buy more than 89.9% of the company. The “poison pill” would make it prohibitively expensive for ICN to buy the Ribapharm stake. ICN said it stands by its offering bid and sued to invalidate the poison pill (see related story, page 1) … The first round of bidding for Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc. closed. Shareholders of Freedom, the parent of the Orange County Register and other newspapers and TV stations, could vote on a final list of shareholders as early as late August (see related story, page 1).
TECHNOLOGY
Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. was set to complete the spinoff of its Mindspeed Technologies Inc. unit after close of trading Friday. Mindspeed is expected to start regular trading on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MND” Monday … The Dirk family upped its offer to buy Santa Ana-based Troy Group Inc. to $2.76 a share, up six cents from its prior bid. Patrick Dirk, founder and chief executive of the printer products and software maker, and his family have rejected a $3.50 a share offer from Costa Mesa-based Westar Capital LLC. The Dirks own 65% of Troy … Costa Mesa-based Irvine Sensors Corp. said it won a $1 million deal from the Army for its miniature infrared cameras.
HEALTHCARE
The Food and Drug Administration warned Irvine-based Allergan Inc. that its ads for cosmetic use of Botox are misleading. Allergan said regulators’ concerns were “minor” and that the company planned to work with them to comply. It’s the second warning from regulators about Allergan’s ads in the past year … Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. said it will make a test for congestive heart failure with San Diego-based Biosite Inc., which got approval to sell the test more than two years ago … Irvine-based Endocare Inc. said it will take longer than expected to review and revise its financial results for the three-year period through 2002. Troubled Endocare previously said its audit would be done by June … Lake Forest-based InSight Health Services Corp. said it plans to buy most of Wexford, Pa.-based CDL Medical Technologies Inc.’s mobile imaging unit for an undisclosed amount.
REAL ESTATE
The Irvine City Council voted to set up a nonprofit company to oversee the development of parkland at the former El Toro Marine base.
ENERGY
Some $12 billion worth of energy contracts signed by the state were OK’d by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. State officials had asked regulators to let them out of the remaining high-priced contracts that weren’t renegotiated.
FINANCE
Irvine-based Consumer Portfolio Services Inc. said David N. Kenneally quit as chief financial officer to “pursue other interests.” The company, which buys and packages subprime auto loans to sell as securities, said the departure wasn’t due to the company’s financial results or accounting methods.
GOVERNMENT
Orange County Supervisors OK’d a $4.8 billion budget for 2003-2004, down about 3% from this year’s budget. The budget calls for a net gain of 11 county jobs for a total of 17,752 … The Orange County Transportation Authority voted to have a committee study whether it should join the Southern California Association of Governments and tap Supervisor Chuck Smith as its representative. Smith recently was ousted as the Board of Supervisors’ representative on the Southland organization, which oversees regional planning issues. Smith was dumped for his support of an attempt by Los Angeles to take over the former El Toro Marine base and turn it into an airport. Joining the association of governments would cost the transportation authority $25,000 … Supervisors OK’d raising the maximum number of flights out of John Wayne Airport to 140 a day from 115. Frontier Airlines is expected to begin flying to Denver in a few months and Midwest Airlines has been offered flights, too. The airport’s other airlines also will get a boost in their number of daily flights.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. said it planned to bid on oil rebuilding contracts that could be worth up to $1 billion, according to the Army. The Army’s deadline for proposals is Aug. 14. The contracts would replace a prior deal awarded to Halliburton Co. Meanwhile, Fluor sold its Roanoke, Va.-based equipment dealership, J.W. Burress Inc., in a management-led buyout. Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed. J.W. Burress has 170 workers. And Fluor won a deal to expand Proctor & Gamble Co.’s tissue and paper towel production plant in Cape Girardeau, Mo. … Federal prosecutors charged two former workers at Boeing Co.’s Huntington Beach-based Delta rocket unit with stealing trade secrets from Lockheed Martin Corp. Air Force officials also are investigating Boeing and could pull contracts for launches from Boeing … Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. said it plans to buy Toronto’s CDI Education Corp. for $32 million. CDI has about 6,100 students at its corporate training and post-secondary schools in Canada … Lawyers with Beverly Hills-based Trevor Law Group LLP denied more than 400 charges filed by the State Bar of California, accusing them of filing thousands of frivolous lawsuits under the state’s consumer protection law … Irvine-based Autobytel Inc. said it sold 5 million shares to institutional investors. The auto marketer plans to use the $27 million from the stock sale to fund corporate spending, including acquisitions … Aliso Viejo-based Epic Brand Group Inc. said it bought Newport Beach-based J Health Communications.
