TOP STORIES
Buy.com Inc., Irvine, raised $182 million in an IPO in which shares rose from $13 to close at $25 the first day, imputing values of $3.3 billion to the company and $1.6 billion to the 48% stake held by founder Scott Blum; a hacker attack brought down the Buy.com web site for three hours … Alan R. Hoops said he will resign as CEO of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Santa Ana, by March 2001; no replacement was named; Hoops indicated a leading candidate is company exec Brad Bowlus; director Jack R. Anderson stepped down from the firm’s executive committee … Shareholders of both firms approved Irvine-based Fidelity National Financial Inc.’s acquisition of Chicago Title Corp.; regulatory approval remains, and Fidelity said it hopes to close the deal, creating the nation’s largest title insurer, by March 1; Fidelity said it obtained an $800 million credit line from a Bank of America-led group … The board of the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road said it never will meet revenue or ridership projections and voted to invest $35 million in funds recovered from the OC bankruptcy and $5 million in reserves to keep the road solvent through 2007 … Shareholders of White Cap Industries Inc., Costa Mesa, approved its $240 million acquisition by a management group backed by Leonard Green & Partners LP … A management-led group offered $47 million for the outstanding shares of BNC Mortgage, Irvine, a 35% premium over the share price at the time … Safeguard Health Enterprises Inc., Aliso Viejo, said an investment group led by CAI Partners & Co. II and Jack R. Anderson had ended its effort to acquire control of the company for $40 million, and the firm has retained an investment banker to explore other options; the company also said it had not made a payment due Jan. 28 on its line of credit, and it will restate three years of financials.
GOVERNMENT
OC proposed to expand its facilities lease at El Toro to include all of the former base’s buildings; meanwhile, the Irvine Council approved an EIR on the non-aviation Millennium Plan for El Toro, approved zoning that would implement the plan and authorized applying to the Local Agency Formation Commission to annex the base; a study commissioned by the OC Business Council concluded an airport at El Toro would not negatively affect surrounding property values … About 200 nonunion painters and electricians rallied outside the OC Hall of Administration to protest the county’s agreement to use union labor in upcoming planned public-works projects, most notably the El Toro airport … Lake Forest accepted a compromise expansion plan for the James A. Musick jail facility that would cap it at 3,900 minimum-security beds; Irvine is reviewing the plan … Southern California Edison asked the state Coastal Commission for approval to begin a $460 million dismantling of Unit 1 at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station … OC and Laguna Niguel officials released a report showing bacteria levels in Aliso Creek within the acceptable range … The Seal Beach Planning Commission voted down a proposal to allow conversion of older homes in part of the city to bed-and-breakfast inns.
WHAT’S NEW
Bluetorch, a unit of Broadband Interactive Group, Aliso Viejo, said it will pick up sponsorship of the Huntington Beach’s largest annual surf contest from Gotcha International, Irvine; also Endeavor Agency agreed to develop Internet programming for BIG in return for a stake in the company … Techniclone Corp., Tustin, received a patent for one of its systems for diagnosing and treating tumors Kelley Blue Book, Irvine, and General Motors Corp. said they will jointly develop a web site to provide used-car prices and vehicle information … National InterBank, Irvine, began full operation of its online-only bank … Bandai America Inc., Cypress, launched a new line of Power Ranger toys incorporating Microsoft technology Incomnet Communications Corp., Irvine, filed a reorganization plan with the Bankruptcy Court … Former OC sheriff Brad Gates will join the board of Tustin-based Commonwealth Energy Corp., the company said … Alyn Corp., Irvine, named Ray Brooks VP and CFO, replacing Richard Little, who resigned last month, and named Deloitte & Touche to be its outside auditor, replacing PricewaterhouseCoopers.
DEALS
Surfline Inc., Huntington Beach, was acquired by swell.com, San Francisco … Tangible Asset Galleries Inc., Newport Beach, acquired Gehringer & Kellar Inc., Allentown, Pa., which does business as Keystone Coin & Stamp Exchange … TriZetto Group Inc., Newport Beach, licensed the healthcare administration software of QCSI, Phoenix … WWW.com, Irvine, signed a licensing agreement with the Recording Industry Association of America to pay royalties to major-label artists whose music it broadcasts via the Internet Olson Co., Seal Beach, sold a minority interest to Allstate Corp., CalPERS and Wells Fargo Co.
LITIGATION, INVESTIGATIONS
A Florida jury sided with Wyle Electronics, Irvine, in an unfair-competition lawsuit brought by Phoenix-based Avnet Inc. … An arbitrator ordered Core Inc., Irvine, to pay $1.7 million to Transcend Services and an affiliate in a breach-of-contract dispute HUD charged Santa Ana-based Yoder-Shrader Management Co. with discriminating against minorities and families with children; the company denied the charges … A strike suit against Sync Research Inc., Irvine, was dismissed in federal court … Onyx Acceptance Corp., Foothill Ranch, was hit with a strike suit A Florida investor that lost $130,000 in a margin account sued Newport Beach-based Monex Deposit Corp.
FINANCIAL
Moody’s Investors Service Inc. lowered its ratings on four debt issues by Bergen Brunswig Corp., Orange … Premier Laser Systems Inc., Irvine, raised $2 million in a private placement of convertible debentures … Directors of Newport Corp., Irvine, approved a 3-for-1 split … WFS Financial Inc., Irvine, raised $34.1 million in a secondary offering.
IN CONCLUSION
South Coast Repertory’s staging of George Bernard Shaw’s “The Philanderer” was nominated for four LA Drama Critics’ awards … The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to designate 97,000 acres in OC as protected habitat for the California gnatcatcher … The state reported that OC’s population grew by 49,800 residents, to 2.8 million, from July 1998 to July 1999.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: The value of building permits in OC in 1999. Residential permits rose 22% to $2.27 billion and commercial permits rose 5% to $1.6 billion, according to the county.
Down: The OC home market in January, according to Acxiom DataQuick. The median price dropped to $251,000 from $258,000 in December, and home sales totaled 2,607, down from 2,804 in January 1999. (The median price in all categories rose, but there were fewer expensive homes sold relative to lower-priced homes, hence the drop in the overall price.)
Up: Venture-capital investment in OC, according to Venture Economics, which said it rose to $1.05 billion in 1999 from $400 million in 1998.
