APPAREL
News reports said Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. will eliminate more jobs following a 170-job trim earlier this year. The upcoming cut could involve 75 positions. The reports also said former Chief Executive Colin Baden, who most recently served as chief innovation and product officer, would shift to a consulting role. Italy-based parent Luxottica would say only that Baden would continue with Oakley, where there will be “a shift in resources and talent.”
FINANCE
Federal authorities arrested 15 people in connection with an alleged international money laundering and narcotics trafficking scheme centered around the former president of Westminster-based Saigon National Bank. Tu Chau “Bill” Lu, 71, president and chief executive of the bank from 2009 through this past January, and the other defendants are named in grand jury indictments. One indictment says the group belonged to a criminal organization working in the U.S., China, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Mexico and Switzerland, and that Lu allegedly used his position at Saigon National, insider knowledge and connections to run a drug money laundering enterprise. The indictment says Lu, of Fullerton, had discussed buying the bank with operatives of the Sinaloa drug cartel and that one operative said the cartel had already invested $1 million in the bank.
Pacific Investment Management Company in Newport Beach named five current and former international financial and political leaders to a new board to advise the investment manager. The board is to “meet several times a year” to “contribute their insights to the firm on global economic, political, and strategic developments and their relevance for financial markets,” PIMCO said. Its members are Ben Bernanke, Gordon Brown, Ng Kok Song, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Jean-Claude Trichet. Bernanke, who was already a senior adviser at PIMCO, is a former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, and Brown is a former U.K. prime minister. The others have held roles with the Singapore government, the U.S. State Department, and the European Central Bank, respectively.
HEALTHCARE
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. in Irvine invested an undisclosed amount in Harpoon Medical Inc., a Baltimore-based startup developing a “minimally invasive” product to surgically repair mitral heart valves. Edwards said terms include an exclusive option to buy Harpoon, which spun out of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Irvine-based Alphaeon Corp. named former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and James Xiaodong Liu, chief executive of Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital Management, to its board of directors. The “lifestyle medicine” company works with board-certified doctors and specializes in procedures not covered by health insurance.
MANUFACTURING
Irvine-based Kurion Inc. acquired U.K. company Oxford Technologies Ltd., which specializes in robotics and remote systems for handling hazardous materials. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
REAL ESTATE
Developer JPI/TDI Cos. has proposed building more apartments at a mixed-use development it plans across from Angel Stadium, the Orange County Register reported. The Texas company’s recent request of the city of Anaheim calls for 1,079 apartments and 9,800 square feet of commercial space. It originally proposed 826 apartments and 10,000 square feet of commercial space.
Developers of a project planned for the Banning Ranch site in Newport Beach are proposing a smaller project after the California Coastal Commission asked them to revise their proposal for the 400-acre property, according to the Orange County Register.
Garden Grove city planners approved a mixed-use development for the Brookhurst Triangle parcel, despite some residential neighbors’ opposition, the Orange County Register reported. The 13.9-acre project is to encompass 674 condo-style homes, 65,000 square feet of commercial space, and 272,000 square feet of open space to include a public urban walking trail.
TECHNOLOGY
TTM Technologies Inc. announced it will lay off 80 workers worldwide in a restructuring move, its second significant job-cutting initiative in less than three months.
TRANSPORTATION
The Orange County Board of Supervisors awarded a $101.8 million contract to Swinerton Builders in Irvine for upgrades at John Wayne Airport. Work is set to begin next year to improve safety, code compliance, and usability of the airport’s two older terminals, which opened in 1990.
