Finance
Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros reportedly pulled the $500 million investment he made about a year ago in a fund managed by Bill Gross at Janus Capital Group Inc. Gross has been managing the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund since leaving Pacific Investment Management Co. last year. Janus’ unconstrained bond fund had about $440 million in assets as of last November when it received the roughly $500 million investment from Quantum Partners LP. Janus said at the time that the funds would be in a Gross-run account that has a similar strategy to that of its unconstrained bond fund.
Hospitality
Irvine-based Pacifica Hotels in September bought the 34-room El Colibri Boutique Hotel & Spa in Cambria in San Luis Obispo County for $8.3 million, or about $244,000 per room. Pacifica, which owns and operates about 30 properties in California, Hawaii and Florida, is owned by Invest West Financial Corp. in Santa Barbara.
Manufacturing
A Kraft Heinz factory in Fullerton will close along with six other plants, resulting in the loss of 430 jobs. The timing of the factory’s closing wasn’t disclosed. The newly merged company—H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods Group Inc. combined in July—will consolidate manufacturing in North America to reduce excess capacity and operational redundancies, a Kraft executive said. The Fullerton factory produces the Lunchables packaged meals.
San Juan Capistrano-based toilet tank component manufacturer Fluidmaster Inc. acquired Istanbul-based Key Teknik, a sanitary equipment business with a large market presence in the Middle East and Europe. Representatives of the family owned and operated company couldn’t be reached for comment regarding financial details of the acquisition. It follows the company’s 2014 buy of Slovenia-based Kolektor Liv.
Pharmaceuticals
Irvine-based ChromaDex Corp. signed a joint development deal with Cincinnati-based conglomerate Proctor & Gamble Co. The maker of materials for dietary supplements said the deal calls for a proprietary ingredient to be used in P&G food products. ChromaDex will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and milestone payments under terms of the deal. It also said it would raise $2 million in an equity offering to Dr. Philip Frost, Barry Honig and Michael Brauser, three of its existing shareholders.
Technology
Irvine-based Quality Systems Inc. is buying San Diego-based HealthFusion Holdings Inc. for $165 million, plus a potential additional $25 million in milestone payments. Quality makes software that doctors and dentists use to manage their practices. HealthFusion develops Web-based cloud computing software for doctors, hospitals and medical billing services. Quality said HealthFusion’s MediTouch cloud software has more than 60,000 subscribers.
PMC-Sierra Inc. rejected the latest buyout offer from Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp. The Sunnyvale-based company said Microsemi’s $2.4 billion cash-and-stock bid of $11.82 per outstanding share of PMC stock wouldn’t provide “superior value” to the all-cash offer of $11.60 provided by Apple supplier Skyworks Solutions Inc. PMC also cited the leverage Microsemi would take on—$2.7 billion in new transaction debt.
Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc. posted another subscription loss in its flagship World of Warcraft franchise, but the third-quarter drop was overshadowed by Santa Monica parent Activision Blizzard Inc.’s $5.9 billion takeover of London-based King Digital Entertainment PLC, which created two of the top-grossing mobile games in the U.S.: Candy Crush and Candy Crush Soda Saga. The local Blizzard unit lost 100,000 WoW subscribers and now has about 5.5 million signed up to play the fantasy role-playing game.
Transportation
Alaska Airlines said it will fly from John Wayne Airport to Santa Rosa, Calif., and Reno/Tahoe, Nevada starting in March. It will have 13 flights to six destinations from JWA once the flights begin. The airline added service to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta from John Wayne this year. The new flights will be operated for Alaska by Horizon Air.
