ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Jobs, which were down 53,000 in November from a year earlier, but unemployment fell slightly to 9.4% from 9.7% in October, according to the state Employment Development Department.
Down: Hotel rates, which fell 11%, and vacancy, which rose to 30% from 29% a year earlier in October, according to PKF Consulting.
Up: Existing homes prices, which rose to a median $499,020 in November, up 1.7% from October and up 10% from a year earlier, according to the California Association of Realtors.
TOP STORIES
The parent of Santa Ana-based dental services company Bright Now Dental Inc. filed plans to go public and raise up to $144 million in what could be the first major stock offering here since late 2007. Smile Brands Group Inc. is looking to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Other terms of the offering haven’t been set yet.
The judge overseeing the government’s cases against former Broadcom Corp. executives threw out stock options backdating charges against Henry Samueli, Henry Nicholas and Bill Ruehle. The judge said prosecutorial misconduct compromised the cases. In other news, Broadcom upped its outlook for the fourth quarter on better-than-expected demand for two of its businesses. Broadcom said it expects to report $1.32 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, up from an earlier estimate of $1.25 billion in sales and up 17% from a year earlier.
The Ohio-based parent company of Buena Park’s Knott’s Berry Farm is being acquired by a private equity firm in a deal valued at $2.4 billion. New York-based Apollo Global Management LLC is paying $625 million for Cedar Fair LP and taking on about $1.6 billion in debt. Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair owns and operates 11 amusement parks, seven water parks and five hotels. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based Mavent Inc., a software developer for the mortgage industry, was acquired by Ellie Mae Inc. of Pleasanton. Terms weren’t disclosed. Ellie Mae, which also makes software for the mortgage industry, plans to keep Mavent employees in the product, legal and development departments and keep the company in Irvine.
HEALTHCARE
Brea-based Beckman Coulter Inc. expects its 2010 profits to be $313.7 million to $324.4 million, up more than $45 million from 2009 projections but still less than the $325.1 million analysts were expecting. Beckman’s estimate does not factor in sales from the medical diagnostics business it bought earlier this year from Japan’s Olympus Corp., which is expected to add $480 million to $500 million in 2010 revenue.
A federal jury found that SenoRx Inc., which makes devices for treating breast cancer, didn’t infringe on patents held by Hologic Inc., a Massa-chusetts-based competitor and its Cytyc Corp. unit.
California Stem Cell Inc. of Irvine received an undisclosed amount of second-round financing from investors, which will be used to continue developing treatments already in trials. California Stem Cell said it’s finished preclinical studies for a drug application to the Food and Drug Administration for its lead product, Motorgraft. A first-phase safety study for Motorgraft is planned for 2010.
REAL ESTATE
A unit of Citigroup Inc. filed a notice of default against the owners of The Shops at Anaheim GardenWalk mall next to Disneyland as they seek to rework terms of a loan. The owners of the mall haven’t made a payment on more than $188 million in debt since September. The default notice could be the first step in a foreclosure by Citigroup or just a tactical move during talks to restructure the debt.
APPAREL
Huntington Beach-based clothing maker Quiksilver Inc. reported a quarterly loss that was better than expected and projected results for the three months through January that were in line with Wall Street projections. The company lost $1.7 million for the three months through October. Analysts were expecting a loss of $6.4 million. Sales came in at $538.7 million, better than the $519.7 million analysts predicted.
FINANCE
Shareholders of Santa Ana-based WeCosign Inc., which cosigns for apartment renters, are looking to sell 3.7 million shares of the company, which plans to list on the low-profile Bulletin Board stock exchange. The company isn’t selling any shares or gaining any proceeds. The year-old company is small and isn’t profitable, in part because of costs from going public.
China’s currency regulator, which oversees the world’s largest foreign-exchange reserves, appointed Pacific Investment Management Co. hedge fund manager Changhong Zhu as its chief investment officer. Pimco founder Bill Gross is taking over hedge fund strategies overseen by Zhu.
OTHER NEWS
Anaheim trucking and logistics company Bullet Freight Systems Inc. was acquired by a Milwaukee-area counterpart for undisclosed terms. Cudahy, Wis.-based Roadrunner Transportation Services Inc. is acquiring Bullet, which has yearly sales of $80 million with warehouses in L.A., Portland, Ore., Seattle and Chicago.
