Compiled by Julie Leupold
TOP STORY
Richard J. O’Neill, heir to one of the largest land holdings in Orange County, died at the age of 85 of natural causes. O’Neill was chairman of Rancho Mission Viejo LLC, which owns about 23,000 acres in South County as well as office buildings, stores and restaurants. O’Neill had a huge impact on the county, from the creation of the O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon to the development of Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Las Flores and, most recently, Ladera Ranch. He spent a lifetime in politics, rising to the Democratic Party’s chairmanship of California in 1978. He also headed the party in Southern California.
Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc., a maker of hybrid electric sports cars, has raised $85 million in its fourth round of venture funding. The round is its largest to date for the company, which has raised $179 million in all. New York-based Eco-Drive (Capital) Partners LLC and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers provided funding for the round. Other Fisker backers include Palo Alto-based Palo Alto Investors and the Persian Gulf’s Al Ghaffara Investment Co.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based startup WiSpry Inc., which makes chips for cell phones, raised $10 million in a third round of venture funding with the possibility of adding at least $5 million more. The latest round was led by new investor Washington, D.C.-based Paladin Capital Group. A representative from Paladin is set to join WiSpry’s board. The company added another investor, Japan’s MuRata Manufacturing Co.
An analyst upgraded Lake Forest-based disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. to “neutral” from “underweight” and boosted his price target to $19 per share, up from a previous estimate of $12 per share. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Mark Moskowitz said demand for disk drives avoided a “worst-case scenario so far.” He downgraded the stock of Western Digital’s top rival, Scotts Valley-based Seagate Technologies LLC.
A judge ordered Microsoft Corp. to pay $388 million in damages to Irvine’s Uniloc USA Inc., a maker of network security software, after it was found to have infringed on a Uniloc patent. Uniloc USA, a unit of Australia’s Uniloc Corp., holds patents for preventing software from being installed on more than one computer. Microsoft plans to appeal.
HEALTHCARE
Cianna Medical Inc., an Aliso Viejo maker of devices to treat breast cancer, said that it completed a $10 million second round of financing. Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. took part, along with Emergent Medical Partners of Portola Valley, San Francisco-based Saints Capital, Fog City Fund of San Francisco and several individual investors. The funding brings Cianna’s total raised to $19 million.
Irvine’s Allergan Inc. sued Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit to prevent it from selling a generic version of glaucoma drug Combigan. Sandoz is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to sell a copy of the prescription eye medicine. Allergan wants a court to block the agency from granting approval until two patents expire in 2022.
REAL ESTATE
Pulte Homes Inc.’s plan to buy Centex Corp. stands to boost the Michigan-based homebuilder’s local operations. Bloomfield, Mich.-based Pulte said it plans to pay $1.3 billion in stock plus $1.8 billion in debt to buy Dallas-based Centex, which was the No. 14 homebuilder in OC last year and ranked among the top 10 during the housing boom earlier this decade.
APPAREL
Foothill Ranch-based mall retailer Wet Seal Inc. saw sales at stores open at least a year fall 11.4% in March, worse than the 10% drop Wall Street expected. Total sales for the month fell 12% to $51.2 million.
FINANCE
Costa Mesa-based bank Pacific Mercantile Bancorp said it has declined a $25.5 million government investment. The money, part of the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, was deemed too costly because of high interest payments, according to the bank. Pacific Mercantile’s Chief Executive Raymond Dellerba also said there was a risk of the government changing the rules for banks receiving the funds.
OTHER NEWS
Walt Disney Co. officials said 1,900 salaried positions were cut because of restructuring in part due to the troubled economy. Locally, some 200 people have been laid off at Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort and an additional 100 positions will not be filled there. The positions were executive, management and administrative jobs behind the scenes.
The Capistrano Test Site, a historic aerospace and defense complex east of San Clemente where engineers helped perfect engines that enabled 12 Apollo astronauts to land on the moon, will be phased out in the next two years by Northrop Grumman Corp. The company had planned to lease the site from Rancho Mission Viejo through 2025.
Six former executives of Rancho Santa Margarita’s Control Components Inc. were charged with conspiring to bribe foreign officials and others in return for lucrative contracts that resulted in about $46.5 million in net profit, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Combining that sum with the profit resulting from bribes by the two former executives who pleaded guilty earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s office alleges that $8.6 million paid to foreign officials brought the company about $55 million in net profit between 2003 and 2007.
