Compiled by Mike Mason
TOP STORY
Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. said it plans to buy France’s Skis Rossignol SA for $312 million. The surfwear maker first expressed interest in the family-owned ski maker last year. The deal stands to boost Quiksilver’s yearly sales from $1.3 billion now to nearly $2 billion and turn the surfwear company into the largest maker of skis. Meanwhile, Quiksilver said its board approved a two-for-one stock split … Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. said that three of its workers died in last Wednesday’s explosion and fire at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas. Meanwhile, insurance providers for Fluor and IBM Corp. settled a claim by a burn victim for $9.5 million in damages plus $5.9 million for hospital bills. The worker received burns on 60% of his body after an electrical explosion … Santa Ana-based title insurer First American Corp. said it plans to sell its credit information unit to an affiliate for $550 million. The sale of the unit to St. Petersburg, Fla.-based First Advantage Corp. is an all-stock deal. When the sale closes, First American will own 80% of First Advantage, up from 69% now.
TECHNOLOGY
Japan’s Toshiba Corp. was ordered to pay Fremont-based Lexar Media Inc. $465 million for violating a 1997 flash memory development pact. The award includes $59 million from Irvine-based Toshiba America Electronic Com-ponents Inc. … Tustin-based MTI Technology Corp. reported that it’s lost a third of its nine-member board in the past few weeks. All three directors have ties to Lindon, Utah-based Canopy Group Inc., the investment company started by former Novell chief executive Ray Noorda. Canopy is MTI’s biggest shareholder with 42% of the company and has undergone a control battle in the past year. Two of the MTI directors resigned on March 10. The third, Valerie Noorda Kreidel, Noorda’s daughter and a Huntington Beach resident, committed suicide. MTI said it plans to keep the size of its board at six members … Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software Inc., a maker of software for managing databases, said it would pay $16 million plus royalties to Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates International Inc. to settle a patent lawsuit … Interchange Corp. said it plans to double the size of its headquarters in a move from Laguna Hills to Irvine. The company, a paid Internet search provider, signed a five-year lease with The Irvine Company for 23,000 square feet of space. Interchange said it plans to move later this year … Irvine-based Island Pacific Inc. said it hired investment banker Oppenheimer & Co. to explore “a range of strategic options,” including a refinancing, capitalization, acquisition or sale.
The trustee of bankrupt Brea Community Hospital filed suit to get control of 17 acres of land, which includes the hospital and other medical buildings. The former owners of the hospital also own the real estate under a separate company. Brea Community owes creditors $13 million. Last week 40 workers were cut from the hospital’s staff and the trustee said the hospital has enough cash to last for another week … Tyco International Ltd. said it planned to appeal a $420 million judgment won by Irvine-based medical device maker Masimo Corp. for anticompetitive behavior … IntraLens Vision Inc., a Lake Forest-based eye device maker, said it raised $12 million in venture funds. In connection with the funding, the company named Randy Alexander as its chief executive. Alexander is an eye device veteran who was most recently chief executive of Irvine-based IntraLase Inc. … Newport Beach-based Trizetto Group Inc. named Jerry Widman to its board. He retired as chief financial officer of St. Louis hospital chain Ascension Health in 2001. Widman replaces Willard Johnson, who resigned for personal reasons … Irvine-based Ista Pharm-
aceuticals Inc. asked for approval from the Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials of its ecabet sodium prescription eye drops to treat dry eye.
Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp named Mark E. Schaffer and R. Rand Sperry as independent directors. They replace two former directors of Hawthorne Financial Corp., which Commercial Capital bought last year.
Angels Baseball LP said Fox Sports Net West agreed to show another 52 games on TV this season. All but four of the Angels’ 162 games will be on TV, including 102 on FSN West … Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. said it would delay the release of its fourth quarter and 2004 results until April 12. The teen apparel seller was set to release its results last week. In February, it said it faced an informal Securities and Exchange inquiry into its second-quarter results from 2004 … Ten resorts have formed a marketing group to sell coastal Orange County to wealthy travelers under the name “The Oceanfront.” The partnership includes half a dozen major hotels as well as several independent ones.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: Orange County’s housing picture in February, with the median sale price for existing homes up 16.5% to $663,600, versus a year earlier, and 4.6% higher compared to January, according to the California Association of Realtors.
