How confident are AmeriSource and Bergen Brunswig that their proposed combination will go through? The Insider hears that measurements for new corporate signs already have been done at Southland facilities of the two drug distributors. Late last month, AmeriSource and Bergen certified that they complied with the Federal Trade Commission’s request for more info on the deal, triggering a 30-day review that ends Aug. 27. Regulators can come out against AmeriSource’s buy of Bergen or just let the review period expire. The companies are betting on the latter: a special shareholders’ meeting on the deal is set for Aug. 29. Proxies went out Aug. 1 The Insider hears that Ritz Carlton has taken its proposed hotel in Irvine off its drawing boards The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa held its grand opening shindig on Saturday,with a performance by rocker and Showtime series star Chris Isaak. Party organizer Jeffrey Best of L.A.-based Best Events said he arranged for celebs such as Dylan McDermott and Selma Blair to be chauffeured down in brand new Hummers. Neil Diamond cover band Super Diamond played on a stage floating above the hotel’s pool. “They let us do those kind of things,” Best said of the St. Regis management. “I don’t get that from my Hollywood clients half the time”…. ..
…….We expected a lot of feedback on the Business Journal’s first listing of OC’s wealthiest people that ran in last week’s issue. Most of it came before the edition hit the streets. As a courtesy, we let people know in advance they were going to make our listing. In all, we heard from seven people on either our 20 wealthiest or our honorable mentions listings. All asked not to be listed because of the attention it brings. One person’s lawyer contacted us. Two people conceded and actually offered input on the worth we estimated. So far, only one call from someone saying they wanted to be on the list The unofficial bird of Orange County during the 1980s, the building crane, is back, notes Terry Goldfarb-Lee hopefully. “Standing at my window I see six cranes,” said Goldfarb-Lee, who works on the sixth floor of the Imperial Bank Building in Costa Mesa. “I saw a couple of cranes at MacArthur and Main, too” Retired buddies Dick Sim and Chuck Haggerty vacationed recently with Al Nichols at his Aspen hideaway. Sim said the biggest thrill was looking out the window at a black bear rearing up on the front lawn. Neither Sim nor the bear pushed the encounter any farther Believe it or not, Disneyland may not be the happiest place in Orange County. It has competition from an intersection in Trabuco Canyon, where Oakie Dokie meets Hunky Dory More air time for Los Angeles Rams Hall of Famer and Anaheim Hills resident Deacon Jones: In September he will join Boomer Esiason as analyst on Fox Sports Net’s “NFL This Morning.” You can already catch him on FSN’s “The Best Damn Sports Show Period” Bureaucratic tale: Auto-tag renewer EE RR needed nine calls to penetrate the voice-mail maze of the DMV. Three busy signals, two disconnects and three interminable waits.
