Apparel
Footwear manufacturer OluKai Inc. in Aliso Viejo acquired Newport Beach-based eyewear brand Kaenon for an undisclosed sum. Kaenon designs its products in Orange County and manufactures them in Italy, according to the company. It will remain a separate entity led by its co-founder and president, Darren Rosenberg.
Education
California State University-Fullerton’s College of the Arts received a $500,000 donation from the Leo Freedman Foundation. The college will name a visual arts building studio and graduate students gallery after the organization, which has helped fund scholarships at the school since 1993.
Finance
CoreLogic Inc. will buy FNC Inc. for $475 million. FNC has an office in Costa Mesa and is based in Oxford, Miss. It makes software and products to automate ordering and tracking property appraisals for lenders. Irvine-based CoreLogic provides property information and analytics. On Sept. 30, it closed on its acquisition of Plano, Texas-based LandSafe Appraisal Services from Bank of America for $122 million.
Kristen Monson pledged to give $1.5 million to the University of California-Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business to help pay for a recently completed second building. She graduated from the business school in 1986 and from UCI as an undergraduate in 1982 and worked for 25 years at Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach, retiring in 2012 as an executive vice president. The Merage School said it’s the largest gift pledged for its new building and the largest by a graduate of the business school. The building’s grand terrace will be named for her.
Healthcare
Six Orange County hospitals’ Medicare payments will be docked 1% over the next fiscal year due to highest rates of infections and complications, the Orange County Register reported. Mission Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, Fairview Developmental Center, Anaheim Global Medical Center, Chapman Global Medical Center and Orange County Global Medical Center were affected. The penalty was instituted under the Affordable Care Act.
Manufacturing
Bravo Sports in Santa Fe Springs bought helmet manufacturer Pro-Tec from Dye Precision Inc., both in San Diego, on undisclosed terms. Pro-Tec is moving to a San Clemente office. Bravo was founded in 1965 and makes trampolines, skateboards, scooters and other items under about 20 brands, including John Deere, and licensed from Disney/Pixar and others. The Business Journal estimates its sales at $150 million to $200 million. It has 200 employees in the U.S., Italy, Thailand and China and 110 in Santa Fe Springs. Fifteen will be based in San Clemente. Pro-Tec, founded in 1973, makes protective equipment, including pads and helmets for skateboarders, water sports enthusiasts and bicyclists.
Media
Tribune Publishing Co. withdrew its objection to Santa Ana-based Freedom Communications Inc.’s proposed debtor-in-possession financing deal with Silver Point Finance LLC, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Central District of California. The Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune—expected to be one of several bidders in the eventual bankruptcy auction of Freedom—cited “substantial improvements to the Proposed DIP Facility” and “Debtors’, the Committee’s and Silver Point’s assurances regarding a robust and fair sale process” as reasons for the withdrawal.
Restaurants
The Domino’s pizza chain said it plans to hire 400 full- and part-time employees for its Orange County locations after the company’s strong year, the Orange County Register reported. The Michigan-based chain has 41 stores here. Its third-quarter domestic sales increased 10.5% year-over-year, and global revenue topped $2 billion.
About 50 shareholders in Irvine-based Habit Restaurants Inc. can sell up to 14.5 million shares in the burger chain for up to $23.42 at a total value of about $340 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange filing. Greenwich, Conn.-based Karp Reilly LLC and its affiliates—which at one time owned a majority of the company—can sell all of its remaining shares under terms of the filing. Karp Reilly currently controls about 38% of the company and owns the equivalent of about 10 million shares. Habit co-founder Brent Reichard and affiliates, which control about 2.9 million shares, can sell their holdings in the offering. So can a family trust that’s connected to Chief Executive Russ Bendel and controls about 719,000 shares.
