Finance
Irvine-based First Foundation Inc. purchased Community 1st Bancorp for $50.4 million in stock to increase its presence in Sacramento. Community 1st Bancorp is the parent company of Community 1st Bank, which has $373 million in total assets. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC in Newport Beach said President Jay Jacobs will retire, effective Sept. 30, and that two executives will be promoted to co-chief operating officer: Robin Shanahan, a 12-year veteran of the global investment manager who most recently led global human resources for the firm, and Peter Strelow, a 15-year PIMCO employee and its chief administrative officer. Jacobs has been with PIMCO about 19 years and will remain as an adviser for at least a year after retiring, PIMCO said.
Santa Ana-based Banc of California Inc. said J. Francisco A. Turner resigned from his roles as interim chief financial officer and chief strategy officer. The resignation was unrelated to issues regarding the bank’s financial reporting or the integrity of its systems or controls, it said. Turner will pursue financial technology, venture investing and other interests. Chief Accounting Officer Albert J. Wang will be principal financial officer as the company continues its search for a permanent CFO.
Irvine’s Acorn Grows cracked the Wall Street Journal’s list of Top 25 Tech Companies to Watch. Its Acorns app permits users for $1 per month to automatically invest spare change in ETFs, like Vanguard’s S&P 500. Veteran OC investors Walter Cruttenden and his son Jeffrey grew Acorn Grows to over 850,000 accounts and $150 million invested in one year.
Manufacturing
Longtime Irvine-based carpet manufacturer Royalty Carpet Mills Inc. and several affiliated companies closed. Real estate sources told the Business Journal that a deal is in place to sell three large facilities the company owns near John Wayne Airport. Mike Derderian, Royalty Carpet’s founder, died in 2013, and it has since sold other area property. Royalty Carpet recently employed 475 companywide.
Real Estate
An affiliate of Irvine-based HCP Inc. bought the two-building Scripps Wateridge Corporate Center office campus in Sorrento Mesa, a neighborhood in northwestern San Diego County, for $26.1 million, according to CoStar Group and public data. The largest publicly traded REIT in OC is among the country’s biggest holders of healthcare and life-science properties.
Services
Comcast Spectacor, part of Comcast Corp., sold Irvine-based division Spectra’s Ticketing & Fan Engagement to college sports marketer Learfield Communications LLC in Plano, Texas, on undisclosed terms. Spectra’s Paciolan ticketing software processes the sale of more than 120 million tickets per year. It also handles customer relationship management, fundraising, marketing data analytics and corporate partnerships.
Sports
New York-based Alliance MMA Inc. acquired Fight Club OC and other entities under the banner of Roy Englebrecht Promotions in Costa Mesa on undisclosed terms. Roy Englebrecht Promotions, established by Newport Beach entrepreneur Roy Englebrecht in 1985, is among the most successful boxing promoters in the U.S. and the longest running in California.
Technology
ADOMANI Inc. debuted on the NASDAQ Capital Market, becoming the first equity crowdfunded company to list on the tech-heavy exchange. The manufacturer announced it closed its Regulation A common stock offering, raising about $9.2 million in net proceeds. The company, ticker ADOM, sold over 2.5 million shares at $5 per share. It converts school buses and other fleets into zero-emission electric and hybrid vehicles.
Chipmaker Conexant Systems LLC in Irvine agreed to be acquired by Synaptics Inc. for about $342 million. The acquisition “broadens Synaptics’ portfolio of human interface solutions and rapidly accelerates the execution of our IoT strategy,” said Chief Executive Rick Bergman. The deal is set to close in the third quarter. Conexant, which spun off in 1999 from what was Rockwell International, generates about $104 million in annual revenue.
Costa Mesa-based business website and social media services provider MoPro laid off 170 employees, among them 40 at its Irvine headquarters, according to news reports. MoPro said it doesn’t plan further layoffs. It’s among the portfolio companies of Newport Beach-based venture capital firm Toba Capital.
