This past week’s news from www.ocbj.com and other sources
TOP STORIES
Brea-based medical diagnostic and research products company Beckman Coulter Inc. is considering a sale, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to explore possible offers. Potential buyers include New York private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Apollo Global Management LLC as well as big industry rivals. Shares of Beckman shot up 25% to a market value of $5 billion on the news late last week. Beckman has spent most of this year dealing with issues stemming from a March recall of a test used to detect heart attacks. The recall prompted a downward revision in the company’s 2010 profit projection, a big drop in its shares and the September departure of former chief executive Scott Garrett.
The Paris-based parent of Gucci, Puma and other brands is interested in buying Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., according to French newspaper La Tribune. PPR SA, which owns a stable of high-end brands and stores, has contacted Quiksilver and major shareholder Rhone Group LLC of New York about a possible acquisition, according to the report. Quiksilver’s shares rose more than 20% on the news and ended the week up more than 10% on a market value of $830 million. PPR was a rumored suitor of Quiksilver during the height of the company’s financial struggles, which followed 2005’s $560 million buy of French ski maker Rossignol.
REAL ESTATE
Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. plans to sell $650 million worth of debt to pay off existing bonds and loans. The offering is part of an ongoing financial restructuring at Standard Pacific, which is the largest homebuilder based in Orange County and was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy in 2008 before striking a $530 million financing deal with New York-based MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC.
Assemblymember Juan Solorio (D-Santa Ana) introduced a bill to slow the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. The bill would require the state to obtain an appraisal and sell the 150-acre property for no less than the appraised value. The state has a deal to sell the property to Costa Mesa-based Facilities Management West Inc. for $100 million, a deal subject to legal wrangling.
RESTAURANTS
The headquarters for Irvine-based Claim Jumper Restaurants and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in San Clemente will shift to Houston, home of new owner Landry’s Restaurants Inc. The shift is expected to affect about 200 employees.
HEALTHCARE
Regulators in Switzerland have approved trial treatments of some spinal cord injuries with neural stem cells with a procedure developed by University of California, Irvine researchers in conjunction with Palo Alto-based StemCells Inc. The treatment has been shown to reverse paralysis in the limbs of laboratory mice with spinal cord injuries.
NONPROFITS
Maria Chavez Wilcox resigned as chief executive of Orange County United Way after 14 years with the group. She exits the high-profile nonprofit post to join her husband’s consulting business and pursue other opportunities. Max Gardner, vice chairman of the United Way board and former president of the Irvine Company’s apartment unit, is taking over chief executive until a replacement is found.
TOURISM
Walt Disney Co. said it will combine its reporting of changes in visitor counts for theme parks in Anaheim and Florida instead of breaking out them separately. Visitors to the regions often vary, and the single figure for both will make it harder to estimate their performance, according to analysts.
GOVERNMENT
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido expected to collect a $500,000 fee for helping put investors together on a $2.3 billion deal to buy 11 office buildings and lease them back to the state of California. The investors formed California First LLC, which includes Irvine-based Spyglass Realty Partners, Houston’s Hines Interests LP and Antarctica Capital LLC of New York. A lawsuit has been filed to block the sale with Pulido’s role coming to light in a deposition. He confirmed that he expected a “success fee” but said the makeup of the investment group has changed and he is no longer in line for a payout.
An Orange County legislator has been named head of a significant subcommittee while two others lost bids for panel chairs in advance of the Republican Party assuming control of the U.S. House of Representatives next month. Gary Miller was named chairman of the International Monetary Policy subcommittee of the House Finance Committee. Ed Royce had hoped to take over the House Financial Services Committee but the chairmanship went to Spencer Bachus of Alabama. Dana Rohrbacher sought to chair the Science and Technology Committee but Ralph Hall of Texas got the spot.
OTHER NEWS
Orange County’s largest public companies combine for the lowest percentage of female board members and highest-paid women executives in the state, according to a recent survey by the University of California, Davis. The survey took in the 400 largest public companies in California, including 48 in Orange County, where fewer than one in 10 directors or high-paid executives are women. Orange County has the lowest ratio of female board members, at 7%, and the lowest percentage of highly paid women, at 4.5%, among counties with at least 20 companies included in the survey.
