EDUCATION
Stacy Nicholas’ Opus Foundation will give $9.5 million to University of California-Irvine’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering. The gift will support science, technology, engineering and mathematics efforts at the school, including $5 million for K-12 and community outreach, $2 million for an endowed deanship, $2 million for graduate and undergraduate scholarships and fellowships and $500,000 for building renovation for new study space. Nicholas is the ex-wife of Henry Nicholas, who cofounded Broadcom along with Henry Samueli.
A team of students from California State University-Fullerton won first place in a video game creation competition. Six students in computer science, art and animation calling themselves Hand Made Games took the top spot for their game, “Paper Craft.”
FINANCE
Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. has joined an international advocacy group that aims to push for more women on corporate boards. The group, called the 30% Club, is based in the U.K. and is composed of company chairs and chief executives. It was founded in 2010 with a goal of women making up 30% of the boards of the companies on the FTSE 100 Index by the end of 2015. The 30% Club launched in the U.S. in April, supported by a number of corporate heads, including Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffet.
The state Department of Business Oversight said it will move to suspend Anaheim-based lender CashCall Inc.’s licenses, contending the company’s violated California’s lending law. The agency accuses CashCall of misleading consumers and of convincing them to borrow more money than they needed. It cited CashCall’s annual interest rates of 135% and higher.
HEALTHCARE
Minneapolis-based medical device maker Medtronic Inc. is buying fellow device maker Covidien plc for $42.9 billion in cash and stock. Medtronic and Covidien, which is based in Ireland but operates from Massachusetts, both have operations in Orange County. Medtronic’s local operation makes heart valves that compete with Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. Covidien’s local business involves neurovascular devices and competes with Masimo Corp., an Irvine-based patient monitor maker.
Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said the Food and Drug Administration approved its Edwards Sapien XT less-invasive heart valve. The approval covers high-risk and inoperable patients suffering from severe symptomatic aortic stenosis, or a narrowing of the body’s main artery. Edwards said in a news release that the valve would be immediately available to patients.
HOSPITALITY
Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. announced plans to issue 18 million shares of its common stock in a public offering, in part to help pay for its latest resort acquisition, a $325.7 million deal for the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Maui from a Blackstone affiliate.
RESTAURANTS
Rancho Santa Margarita-based Pieology Pizzeria named Bob Baker company president. He brings 25 years of operations experience to the 3-year-old chain, which has restaurants in California, Colorado and Oregon, a new location in Texas, and plans to enter Minnesota and Ohio.
Costa Mesa-based S.B. Restaurant Co., operator of the Elephant Bar Restaurant chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Business Journal reported in last week’s print edition that the company had closed a third of its locations. S.B. also requested court approval of $3.3 million in “debtor-in-possession” financing so it can keep operating. The company is seeking a buyer for the chain.
SERVICES
Salas O’Brien LLC in Santa Ana acquired a Houston, Texas-based engineering firm. The company plans to change its name once it folds Kalmans Marshall Engineering Inc. into its operations, continuing as KME Salas O’Brien LLC. The deal added 55 people to Salas O’Brien’s roster, for a total of 170 employees. The acquisition will increase the Santa Ana-based engineering firm’s annual billings from $19 million to $30 million and expand its number of offices from nine to 12, according to Chief Executive Darin Anderson.
Irvine-based design and architecture firm LPA Inc. signed a deal to absorb OCO Architects in San Antonio, Texas, landing its first office outside of California. Financial details of the transaction were undisclosed. LPA is the largest architecture firm in OC. It had $46 million in local billings for the 12 months through June 2013 and has 220 employees overall, most in Irvine.
