Compiled by Julie Leupold
TECHNOLOGY
A federal judge in Santa Ana kept in place a ban on cell phone chips from San Diego’s Qualcomm Corp. that were found to have infringed on patents held by Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. Qualcomm had asked that the ban be put on hold so it could sell its chips while it appeals the infringement ruling.
AUTOMOTIVE
A sale of Ford Motor Co.’s Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands to India’s Tata Motors Ltd. could come as early as this week, according to reports. Jaguar and Land Rover are part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, which has its U.S headquarters and about 500 workers in Irvine.
MANUFACTURING
Corona-based cement maker Robertson’s Ready Mix Concrete Inc. is being bought for $900 million by Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corp. Robertson’s Ready Mix has locations all over Southern California, including Anaheim, Santa Ana and Lake Forest. Mitsubishi already owns a third of Robertson’s and will become 70% owner after buying shares from the company’s founding family.
HEALTHCARE
California regulators are seeking as much as $1.3 billion in fines and penalties against Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. for failing to process claims and pay doctors properly after its 2005 purchase by Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. Separately, the state Department of Managed Health Care alleged that 30% of the medical claims it reviewed were improperly denied. That agency is seeking an additional $3.5 million in fines.
Medtronic Inc., a Minnesota-based medical device maker with a heart valve plant in Santa Ana, led a $20 million venture capital investment in Arbor Surgical Technologies Inc. of Irvine. Medtronic plans to make, market and distribute Arbor’s cow tissue heart valves.
The proposed $68 million sale of Anaheim Memorial Medical Center to Santa Ana’s Integrated Healthcare Holdings Inc. is off. Memorial Health Services Inc., the Huntington Beach-based owner of Anaheim Memorial, said late last week that Integrated, which owns four OC hospitals, couldn’t complete its financing and sign a final agreement to buy Anaheim Memorial. Memorial said it was going to conduct a “limited re-bidding” for Anaheim Memorial, and that Integrated would be able to bid again.
Advanced Medical Optics Inc. said that it will receive an unspecified royalty from rival Bausch & Lomb Inc. over a patent covering fluids used in eye surgery devices. The eye surgery and contact lens care company said all other terms of the deal are confidential.
REAL ESTATE
Bankrupt subprime lender People’s Choice Home Loan Inc. is looking to file a plan of liquidation by the end of March, the Irvine-based company said in court filings last week. The company said it needed another two months to finalize a liquidation plan, and asked the court to extend its exclusive rights to do so. If approved by the bankruptcy court, it would be the third extension People’s Choice has received to file a plan of liquidation. A hearing on the matter isn’t expected until early March.
GOVERNMENT
Orange County’s $6 billion investment pool is safe, an independent consultant said. That finding, by San Francisco-based PFM Asset Management, is a boost for embattled Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street. His predecessor, Supervisor John Moorlach, twice has tried to strip Street’s authority over the pool. Supervisors ordered the $110,000 PFM study last month amid doubts about Street’s management of the pool.
After months of legal preparation, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to file a lawsuit seeking to repeal part of its pension agreement with sheriff’s deputies, saying the county cannot afford the expense. If the suit is successful, the county could potentially save $187 million in the coming decades. It also would mean incurring the wrath of one of the county’s most politically powerful unions.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Down: The price of an existing Orange County home fell 3.5% to $638,390 from November to December, according to the California Association of Realtors.
Up: OC visitors spent a record $8.3 billion in 2007, up 4% from 2006, according to the Anaheim Visitors & Convention Bureau.
