This past week’s news from www.ocbj.com and other sources
TOP STORIES
Lake Forest-based disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. made an attempt to buy top rival Seagate Technology LLC in October, according to Bloomberg. Scotts Valley-based Seagate recently pulled out of buyout talks with Texas private equity firm TPG Capital after saying earlier this year it planned to “explore strategic options.” Seagate also reportedly turned down a proposal from Western Digital. The report indicated that Western Digital might have tried to outbid TPG, which had considered offering more than $7.5 billion for Seagate.
London-based private equity firm Apax Partners LLC agreed to buy Irvine’s Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC in a $1.8 billion deal with Boston-based J.W. Childs Associates LP and Bank of America Corp.’s BAML Capital Partners. Advantage offers sales, merchandising and marketing services to manufacturers, suppliers and makers of food products and other consumer goods. It has annual revenue of about $1 billion. Advantage Chief Executive Sonny King and President Tanya Domier are expected to remain under the new owner.
Irvine’s Linc Group LLC, which runs building maintenance service companies, was bought by New York-based ABM Industries Inc. for $300 million. Linc Group provides services to building owners and managers to cut power consumption and other costs. Chief Executive Tracy Price is set to continue running Linc’s operations as president of AMB’s engineering group in Irvine.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
Up: Orange County exports, which are projected to hit $17.4 billion this year, up 17% from 2009, according to the Institute for Economic and Environmental Studies at California State University, Fuller-ton. The gains follow a 25% dip in 2009, and exports remain below pre-recession levels.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based networking electronics maker Lantronix Inc. came to terms with a cofounder who sought the ouster of the company’s chief executive and chairman as well as other changes. Bernhard Bruscha, Lantronix’s cofounder and largest shareholder, is withdrawing his slate of dissident board candidates. In exchange, management is backing him and an ally for board seats. Chairman Lew Solomon is stepping down as part of the deal.
Irvine’s Specific Media Inc., which runs an online advertising network, bought Amsterdam-based AdCombination BV, a provider of targeted online advertising campaigns. Terms weren’t disclosed on the deal, which was Specific Media’s second in two months. The move expands Specific Media in Europe by giving it customers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
FINANCE
Paul McCulley, a managing director of Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. and one of its top investment managers, is leaving the bond fund manager for a Philadelphia think tank. McCulley will be a public speaker, researcher and writer for the Global Interdependence Center, which promotes free trade. The 53-year-old has overseen Pimco funds that invest in short-term bonds. McCulley was one of the public faces of Pimco after Co-Chief Investment Officer Bill Gross and Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief executive and co-chief investment officer. McCulley has been Pimco’s more notably liberal economist and served as a counterpoint to Gross, who tends to be more conservative on economic policy.
REAL ESTATE
Brea approved a 57-house development by Trumark Homes, an Irvine-based division of Trumark Group of Cos. in Danville. Trumark Homes recently won approval for a similar 67-home infill development in Lake Forest.
HEALTHCARE
A Food and Drug Administration panel said Irvine-based Allergan Inc.’s Lap-Band weight-loss device is effective for treating more patients than now allowed. Allergan is looking to sell Lap-Band for treating people who have a body mass index of 35 or even 30, measures that typically indicate lower levels of obesity. The FDA is set to evaluate recent findings and decide on an approval for additional use of Lap-Band.
EDUCATION
Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. named Chairman Jack Massimino as chief executive as the company deals with the prospect of potentially crippling federal regulation and a slowdown in business. Massimino replaces Peter Waller, who resigned after less than two years as Corinthian’s chief. The company runs more than 100 campuses in the U.S. and Canada offering degrees in information technology, construction, healthcare and other areas. Matt Ouimet stepped down as president and chief operating office of Corinthian in October. His positions weren’t filled.
OTHER NEWS
John D. Pierce, president of Voit Real Estate Services’ commercial brokerage division in Irvine, died on after a seven-year battle against liver cancer. Pierce joined Voit 13 years ago from a post of vice president of marketing at Irvine’s Koll Company. Pierce earlier served as a captain in the Marine Corps.
Robert H. Grant of Newport Beach and one of Orange County’s biggest homebuilders from the 1950s through the 1970s died. The World War II and Korean War veteran was 90. His Robert H. Grant Corp. developed much of Anaheim Hills and other parts of North County. Grant remained active in various business and nonprofits and served as a director for various companies, including Del Mar Thoroughbred Co.
