AUTOMOTIVE
Karma Automotive LLC, the Costa Mesa-based manufacturer of luxury electric hybrid plug-in vehicles, hired Dennis Dougherty as president and chief operations officer, a new position. Dougherty most recently served as president of the China-based division of Remy International Inc., which specializes in hybrid electric motors, starters and alternators. Karma, once known as Fisker Automotive, said it will unveil its first car, the Revero, late this summer.
EDUCATION
Recently unsealed documents show now-defunct Corinthian Colleges Inc. in Santa Ana unlawfully paid recruiters based on the number of sales leads that resulted in student enrollments, a New York Times report said. The information could make it easier for former Corinthian students to get their federal loans forgiven. The for-profit schools operator filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year and closed remaining campuses. A Superior Court judge ordered it in March to pay $1.1 billion in civil penalties and restitution to former students.
HEALTHCARE
AAC Holdings Inc. said it opened Laguna Treatment Hospital in Aliso Viejo. Brentwood, Tenn.-based AAC provides inpatient substance abuse treatment for drug and alcohol addiction and co-occurring mental and behavioral health issues. The 93-bed Laguna Treatment Hospital is one of eight chemical dependency recovery hospitals in California, according to AAC. AAC bought the building last year for $13.5 million.
HOSPITALITY
An affiliate of Irvine-based Pacific Hospitality Group is in deals for two AC Hotels—a 176-room property under construction at the Park Place mixed-use campus near John Wayne Airport and a recently opened location in Tempe, Ariz.—from Woodbine Development Corp. and USAA.
RESTAURANTS
Costa Mesa-based El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. signed PLM Restaurants LC in Ogden, Utah to open six new sites in Tucson, Ariz., by August 2019 and to buy the chain’s two existing company-owned sites there. The El Pollo Loco chain has about 435 company-owned and franchised fast food chicken restaurants in eight states (see related story, page 3; list, page 10)
TECHNOLOGY
Incipio LLC, an Irvine-based maker of cellphone cases and other mobile device accessories, said it will acquire Skullcandy Inc. for $177 million. Park City, Utah-based Skullcandy, a publicly traded company with ties to Orange County, makes headphones, earphones and video gaming products under the Skullcandy and Astro Gaming brands. Incipio will pay $5.75 per share in cash, a 29% premium over Skullcandy’s closing share price on June 22. The deal will be financed primarily through a new senior credit facility with Monroe Capital Advisors LLC and Wells Fargo Bank.
Irvine-based data management software maker Vision Solutions Inc. was sold to private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group L.P. in Santa Monica on undisclosed terms. More than 12,000 customers in 70 countries use Vision Solutions’ software, which is designed to back up data and keeps servers running during maintenance or in the case of a disaster. It employs an estimated 100 in OC.
TOURISM
Visit Dana Point plans to hire an executive director by summer’s end, according to Board Chairman Jim Samuels, general manager of Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa. The city’s destination marketing organization launched in May. It will be funded from a $3 bed tax at Dana Point’s four largest hotels, which banded together to form a Tourism Business Improvement District six years ago.
OTHER
FivePoint Holdings in Aliso Viejo said it will sponsor the final concert series at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater and also is exploring building a similar venue on the south end of Orange County Great Park in Irvine. The developer, which plans to build nearly 9,500 homes on a portion of the former El Toro Marine base in Irvine, and is helping the city develop an additional 688 acres of Great Park into a variety of recreational uses, said it committed $2 million toward the study and planning of “facilities within the cultural terrace” portion of the city-owned land, including an amphitheater near the Irvine Transportation Center. Irvine Meadows, which opened in 1981, will shutter in October to make way for an Irvine Company home development.
