Compiled by Julie Leupold
TOP STORIES
Walt Disney Co. plans to expand its Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in Anaheim, adding a wing with more than 200 rooms and 50 timeshare condominiums. The expansion stands to bring the hotel’s rooms to nearly 1,000. That would make the hotel the third-largest in the county, up from No. 4 now (see story page 23).
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. is paying $370 million for New Jersey’s Esprit Pharma Inc., maker of a drug to treat overactive bladders. Allergan is paying cash for privately held Esprit. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The company said it sees Esprit adding $6 million to $12 million in fourth-quarter sales. Before the deal, analysts expected $970 million in fourth-quarter sales from Allergan. The acquisition is seen lowering 2007 profits by up to $18 million as Allergan expands its sales force and launches Esprit’s Sanctura drug, the company said.
Irvine computer maker Gateway Inc. received U.S. antitrust approval for its $710 million sale to Taiwan’s Acer Inc. Taiwan regulators still need to approve the deal as well as shareholders. Federal antitrust regulators also cleared the sale of Gateway’s business sales unit it to Idaho’s MPC Corp. The deal is valued at about $90 million.
Irvine-based medical device maker Masimo Corp. reported lower second-quarter profit. Masimo, a maker of devices to measure patients’ oxygen levels, said it earned $10.6 million in the second quarter, down 23% from a year earlier. The earnings report was the company’s first since its $202 million initial public offering in August. The profit slide reflected expected decreases in royalties and interest income resulting from a 2006 settlement of a long-running patent legal battle with Tyco International Ltd. The device maker’s revenue was up 26% to $47.6 million.
Hologic Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based medical device maker, last week said it completed its $70 million buy of Aliso Viejo’s BioLucent Inc. BioLucent, which had $17 million in sales last year, makes the MammoPad, a cushion used during mammograms to relieve discomfort. Hologic, a public company, makes medical imaging systems used in women’s healthcare, such as digital radiography and breast imaging. As part of the deal, BioLucent split off a product line under a new company, Aliso Viejo-based Cianna Medical.
Irvine-based Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. said on last week it was shutting down most of its mortgage lending operations, including for riskier Alt-A loans. Along with Alt-A loans, which are one step above the riskiest subprime loans, Impac said it’s also quitting warehouse lending and commercial lending (see story page 23).
Newport Beach-based Makar Properties LLC’s plans for turning the Wyndham Orange County in Costa Mesa into a boutique hotel and condominium tower were delayed for a few months by an airport commission ruling last week. John Wayne Airport’s Land Use Commission voted that Makar’s high-rise plans,which include a 23-story tower with up to 120 homes,were “inconsistent” with the area near the airport. The decision isn’t likely to kill the developer’s plans, which weren’t expected to begin until 2010 at the earliest. The Costa Mesa City council can overturn the Land Use Commission’s latest decision with a four-fifths vote, after a 45-day review period.
