EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
A federal judge ordered a temporary end to the 10-day lockout of longshoremen at 29 Pacific Coast ports; a full hearing on President Bush’s request to reopen the ports is set for Oct. 16 to determine whether the judge will convert the temporary injunction into a preliminary 80-day cooling off period Newport Beach-based Pacific Invest-ment Management Co.’s Total Return Fund, up about 7% this year, surpassed Vanguard Group’s 500 Index Fund to become the largest mutual fund of any kind at the end of September; the PIMCO fund has $64.5 billion in assets, vs. Vanguard 500’s $62.8 billion Orange County posted its second straight monthly decline in nonfarm payrolls to 1,418,700 jobs in September, according to the state Employment Development Department; the county lost 2,900 jobs in September vs. a year ago, and that follows a 1,500-worker decline in August; the county unemployment rate was 4% in September, down from 4.1% in August, but up from 3.4% a year ago.
TECHNOLOGY
Santa Ana-based Starbase Corp. agreed to be bought by Scotts Valley-based Borland Software Corp. for $24 million in cash; Starbase said its 240 workers in Santa Ana would be retained by Borland Irvine-based Datum Inc. rejected a buyout offer from Mitchel Field, N.Y.-based Frequency Electronics Inc. for about $52 million and said it will move ahead with a previous bid from San Jose-based Symmetricom Inc. for about $79 million Shares of Santa Ana-based MSC.Software Corp. tumbled 33% to 5 after the company warned of a revenue and earnings shortfall; MSC said it would take a one-time $6 million charge associated with job cuts that reduced its headcount of 1,500 by 15% Irvine-based Interplay Entertainment Corp. was delisted from the Nasdaq Small Cap Market for not maintaining a share price above 1; its shares now trade on the over-the-counter bulletin board Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. said the use of new accounting standards resulted in a June year-end loss that was $2.2 million higher than previously announced; with shares trading at 39 cents, Lantronix said it would ask shareholders to approve a 2-for-1 reverse split so it can stay listed on Nasdaq The Justice Department is investigating Newport Beach-based NDS Americas Inc. for allegedly breaking the code of a competitor and posting it on the Internet; NDS, a digital smart-card company that is 80% owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., was served with more than 30 subpoenas last week; NDS says the charges are baseless and were motivated by rivals who want to harm the company Irvine-based SSP Solutions Inc. said it ended a development pact with Lee, Mass.-based Wave Systems Corp; SSP will record a gain of about $1.2 million and will remove about $3.3 million of liabilities as a result of the unwinding.
HEALTHCARE
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. said it won a $125 million medical device contract with Mid-Atlantic Group Network of Shared Services Inc. Schering-Plough Corp. said competition from generic drug makers could affect sales of a liver-disease treatment made by Costa Mesa-based Ribapharm Inc. and marketed by Schering-Plough Irvine-based NeoTherapeutics Inc. said it would co-develop the anti-cancer drug Satraplatin with Germany’s GPC Biotech AG Shares of San Clemente-based Biolase Technology Inc. rose 7.9% to 3.97 after the company said it is on target to post third-quarter revenue of about $7.1 million, 50% higher than the prior quarter.
GOVERNMENT
The Santa Ana Unified school board said it would not go forward with plans for a K-8 school at the former Tustin Marine base because of the costs and time needed to get the land to meet state toxic standards The Huntington Beach-based KOCE Foundation said it is the sole bidder for the public TV station’s license; the foundation will assume the station’s $7.5 operating budget and seek to raise $4.5 million to convert the station to digital broadcast; Chapman University and the University of Southern California had expressed interest in buying the station but did not make bids Orange County Supervisor Tom Wilson unveiled a $100 million plan to relocate restaurants in Dana Point Harbor closer to the water and create more commercial space and walkways; Wilson said the plan would be funded through lease and marina fees; if the plan is OK’d, it is likely to begin in 2004 John Wayne Airport traffic increased 50% to 606,000 passengers in September vs. last year, when airport traffic was affected by the terrorist attacks; passenger counts are up 5.4% year to date The boards of the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill/Eastern toll roads approved a 21-member body that will oversee the probable merger of the two roads.
REAL ESTATE
Koll Development Co. said it would close its San Diego office, cut about 10 workers from its California offices and move its Newport Beach corporate staff to Dallas; the company’s Southern California operations will be based out of a new Irvine office (see Real Estate, page 53) Santa Ana-based First American Corp. and Irvine-based Fidelity National Financial Inc. were among several companies that agreed to pay $50 million to settle charges that they levied hidden fees for their escrow and title services from 1995 to this year.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Officials at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa said a $200 million expansion is set to open in October 2006, a year later than previously forecast; center officials said they did not want to rush opening the 260,000-square-foot facility before the acoustics are ready; concert hall officials, who have seen fundraising stall, hope to raise $30 million in the next year to help fund the 2,000-seat concert hall and 500-seat music center expansion The Walt Disney Co. opened the kid-friendly Flik’s Fun Fair at California Adventure Park as it seeks to boost weak attendance A $25 million Tiger Woods Learning Center will be housed in Anaheim, according to the golfer’s Los Alamitos-based charitable foundation; the 30,000-square-foot golfing and academic facility will reside next to a practice course, according to plans.
