Compiled by Julie Leupold
TOP STORIES
Shares of Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. rose more than 40% last week after the homebuilder said it struck a deal for $530 million in funding from a New York private equity fund. MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC said it would buy about $381 million in shares, paying 37% more than the closing price of Standard Pacific’s stock before the deal was announced. The investor also plans to retire $128.5 million of the company’s debt in exchange for 89.4 million shares. A subsequent offering of 50 million shares could boost the hedge fund’s investment in Standard Pacific to more than $530 million. As part of the deal MatlinPatterson will get three seats on Standard Pacific’s board, which is being increased to 11 members.
TECHNOLOGY
Broadcom Corp. cofounder and former chief executive Henry Nicholas spent a day last week at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana where a grand jury is conducting a criminal probe into allegations that Broadcom executives committed accounting fraud related to stock option grants from 1998 to 2003. Indictments are widely expected in the case.
REAL ESTATE
Orange County housing building permits through April fell to their lowest level in at least 20 years, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. Total building permits issued in OC fell 40.5% as of April, dropping to 1,486 units. Permits for single-family homes and side-by-side condominiums dropped nearly 42%, to 531. Permits for apartments and multistory condo buildings dipped nearly 40%, to 955.
A Coto de Caza home sold for $19.5 million, a record for the upscale inland community. The 15,000-square-foot home is on 9.6 acres. The buyer wasn’t disclosed.
APPAREL
Foothill Ranch-based retailer Wet Seal Inc. reported profits that beat expectations for the recently ended quarter and upped its profit outlook for the current one. The news boosted shares of Wet Seal 15% late last week on a market value of $450 million. But Wet Seal was cautious about sales for the current quarter, forecasting revenue of $149.3 million to $151.6 million, lower than what Wall Street had been expecting. For the three months through May 3, Wet Seal reported a profit of $8.9 million, up 17% from a year earlier on cost cutting. Analysts on average expected a profit of $6.6 million.
MANUFACTURING
Ninety jobs will be lost at the Placentia plant of ConAgra Foods Inc.’s Knott’s Berry Farm brand of jellies in the next three months as the brand’s new owner, J.M. Smucker Co., folds operations into its exiting facilities elsewhere.
GOVERNMENT
A British appellate court said receivers of Britain’s Whistlejacket Capital Ltd. investment company have to treat Orange County and other senior creditors equally. The decision reversed a lower court ruling that could have cost the county its $80 million investment by paying creditors in the order their notes were due. That would have put the county behind at least 75 other creditors.
Plans for a $100 million Civic Center renovation moved forward last week when Irvine leaders earmarked $7.1 million to design city offices for a growing staff. The city has maxed out its use of the 191,000-square-foot Civic Center and is in need of additional workspaces, storage areas and parking, according to staff reports. Plans call for the construction of a police building on a 5-acre site near the former El Toro Marine base. The plan would cost a little more than $100 million dollars and could be completed by 2012. Staff members expect to bring a funding plan to the council in 2009.
OTHER NEWS
Three Orange County Register executives are leaving the company. Joe Brenneman, advertising sales vice president, is leaving to pursue a career outside of newspapers. Ken Jones, vice president of human resources, said he is retiring. And Chris Schultz, vice president of specialty media is taking a job with Gulfshore Media in Florida (see story, page 3). Register publisher Terry Horne said the timing of the three departures is coincidental.
Mexico’s Grupo Gigante SA de CV, which has its U.S. headquarters in Buena Park, is set to sell its seven Southland stores, including one in Anaheim, to Commerce-based Bodega Latina Corp., which runs El Super markets. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The sale comes after December’s $1.35 billion purchase of Gigante by Mexican rival Organizacion Soriana SAB, Mexico’s second largest retailer. The regional Gigante stores are set to become El Super stores.
Ambassadors International Inc. has put its upscale cruise line up for sale. The Newport Beach cruise line operator said it has started the sale process for its Majestic America Line, which includes the American West Steamboat Co., the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. and a 49-passenger vessel that operates in Hawaii and Alaska. Ambassadors is hoping to sell the line quickly and already has sent out information to potential bidders, the company said in a statement.
