TOP STORY
Newport Beach-based developer Craig Realty Group was the high bidder in the much-disputed state-directed auction of the O.C. Fair & Event Center. Craig Realty, a builder of outlet centers, put a winning $56.5 million bid on the 150-acre fairgrounds site. Chief Executive Steve Craig partnered with Dwight Manley, a Newport Beach-based sports agent, real estate investor and coin collector, in his bid. It’s unclear if the bid will be accepted by the cash-strapped state, which had valued the fairgrounds at $96 million to $180 million. Craig Realty reportedly beat out Lake Forest-based Advanced Real Estate Services by $500,000 in last week’s bidding, which was overseen by the California Department of General Services.
Newport Beach-based bond fund manager Pacific Investment Management Co. surpassed $1 trillion in assets under management for the first time. As of Dec. 31, Pimco said its assets were $1.0001 trillion, up from $941 billion as of Sept. 30. In December, Pimco’s flagship Total Return Fund, run by founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer Bill Gross, became the largest mutual fund in history with $202 billion in assets under management. In other news, Gross was named the top bond fund manager of the past decade by Chicago-based fund tracker Morningstar Inc.
TECHNOLOGY
Newport Beach-based chipmaker Conexant Systems Inc. is seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell $100 million worth of its shares. Conexant is filing for a shelf offering, which would give the company standing approval to sell a set amount of shares whenever it wants. It would also allow Conexant to sell warrants, or debt that converts to stock. The company said it intends to use the money from the stock sale for working capital, acquisitions and to pay down debt.
Anaheim’s Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc., a maker of circuit boards, gave a worse-than-expected sales outlook for the current and recently ended quarters. For the current quarter, Multi-Fineline said it’s expecting sales of $160 million to $180 million—a range below analysts’ average expectation of $210 million. For the three months through December, Multi-Fineline expects to report sales of $229 million, up 6% from a year earlier but short of analysts’ expected $234 million.
Costa Mesa’s Emulex Corp., a maker of electronics for data storage networks, gave an early look at its earnings for the December quarter and is expecting profits of $13 million to $14 million, up from its previous outlook of $8 million to $10 million. It’s looking for quarterly sales of $107 million to $108 million, up from a prior outlook of $88 million to $92 million. Wall Street analysts, on average, are looking for profits of about $10 million on sales of $91 million.
Newport Beach-based chipmaker Mindspeed Technologies Inc. narrowed its sales outlook for the current quarter and gave a profit outlook that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, sending its stock up last week. Mindspeed said it now expects revenue of about $37 million for the three months through Jan. 1, near the high end of its previous outlook of $36.1 million to $37.5 million. Analysts, on average, had been expecting sales of $37 million. The company expects profits, excluding charges and benefits, of $2 million, ahead of analysts’ expected $1.2 million in profits.
Nancy Tullos, Broadcom Corp.’s former vice president of human resources, asked U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney to throw out her guilty plea in a deal with prosecutors, citing government misconduct. Tullos agreed to plead guilty in 2007 to asking a subordinate to delete an e-mail about the backdating of stock options at the Irvine chipmaker.
FINANCE
Santa Ana Business Bank will be acquired by Grandpoint Capital Inc., a bank holding company in Los Angeles, for an estimated $6 million. The deal requires regulatory and shareholder approval and the actual price will be determined at closing.
OTHER NEWS
Federal regulators looking into the $290 million acquisition of Irvine’s Diedrich Coffee Inc. have asked for more details about the deal. The company and Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., which is buying Diedrich, said they’re complying with Federal Trade Commission requests. The companies didn’t say what additional information regulators have inquired about. It could have to do with K-Cups, a new type of product for brewing a single cup at a time. Because of the request, the waiting period for the deal to conclude under antitrust laws was extended.
Costa Mesa-based defense contractor Ceradyne Inc. said it expects 2009 profits to meet or exceed its prior projections, but sees revenue falling short. Ceradyne now sees profits before $14 million in charges coming in higher than the $15.4 million it forecast in October, when it lowered guidance. The company now forecasts $401 million in revenue for last year, versus a prior expectation of $410 million to $415 million.
Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. has received an investment pledge from a battery maker that’s also set to become a supplier to the luxury hybrid automaker. Watertown, Mass.-based A123 Systems Inc. is set to invest up to $23 million in Fisker, including $13 million in cash. A123 also signed a multiyear deal to supply batteries for Fisker’s Karma sedan, which runs off a combination gasoline and rechargeable battery engine.
Irvine-based magazine publisher Duncan McIntosh Co. acquired and revived New York-based newspaper journal Editor & Publisher, which closed in December. The boating magazine publisher bought the newspaper journal from Nielsen Co. of the Netherlands. Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed.
