Education
California State University-Fullerton President Mildred García is scheduled to receive the 2017 Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award on March 14 from the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. The annual award goes to a person who’s “made outstanding contributions and demonstrated sustained commitment to diversity in higher education.”
Energy
Newport Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said it will sell its renewable gas business for $155 million to London-based BP Plc. The sale includes Clean Energy’s biomethane production facilities in Canton, Mich., and North Shelby, Tenn., its share of two facilities under construction in Oklahoma City and Atlanta, and existing third-party supply contracts for renewable natural gas. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals. BP will sign a long-term supply contract with Clean Energy to support the OC company’s ongoing renewable natural gas business.
Finance
Irvine-based Banc of California plans to cut its headcount almost in half with the sale of its home loan division to Irving, Texas-based Caliber Home Loans Inc. Its employment will fall to less than 950 from more than 1,800, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “We expect most of these employees will be retained by Caliber,” spokesperson Joe Hixson said. The bank will sell assets related to “the business of originating, processing, underwriting, funding and selling residential mortgage loans,” the filing said. It also is selling to Caliber the mortgage servicing rights on approximately $3.8 billion in unpaid balances of conventional agency mortgages, the filing said (see related story, page 3)
Healthcare
Aliso Viejo-based OrthAlign Inc. appointed Eric Timko chief executive and board chairman. The medical device company’s flagship product is a palm-sized, single-use device for knee and hip replacement. Timko previously served as chief executive of Blue Belt Technologies Inc., which develops robotics-assisted orthopedic technologies for use in orthopedic surgery.
Johnson & Johnson completed its $4.3 billion acquisition of Abbott Medical Optics Inc., a Santa Ana-based former subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories. The combined operation—which will be comprised of Abbott Medical Optics’ ophthalmic surgery business and some consumer eye care products, along with Johnson & Johnson’s ACUVUE contact lens line—will be called Johnson & Johnson Vision and have dual headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla. and Santa Ana, with more than 8,400 employees (see related story, page 1).
Hospitality
Montage International in Irvine and lead developer Robert Green Co. in Encinitas said the companies will break ground this summer on the $360 million SilverRock Resort in La Quinta. The project is the first to include both a Montage Resort and a Pendry Hotel and the first with Pendry Residences—for-sale lodging akin to the Montage Residences concept at Montage Resort properties.
Law
The Orange County/Long Beach region of the Anti-Defamation League named winners of the 2017 Marcus Kaufman Jurisprudence Award: Andra Greene, a partner at Irell & Manella LLP in Newport Beach; Michael Ray, executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary at Western Digital Corp. in Irvine; and Gary Singer, senior vice president and general counsel of RSI Holding LLC in Newport Beach.
Media
Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp. sold its four remaining magazines, including Orange Coast, to Hour Media, a Royal Oak, Mich.-based media company, for $6.5 million. The other publications that sold are Los Angeles Magazine, Atlanta Magazine and Cincinnati Magazine. Hour Media is a privately held magazine publisher (see related OC Insider item, page 3).
Technology
Irvine-based analytics software maker Alteryx Inc. aims to raise $75 million in an initial public offering, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AYX. Alteryx backers include Newport Beach-based Toba Capital (see related story, page 1).
