AUTOMOTIVE
McMahon’s RV in Westminster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It’s recently been in a legal dispute with GE Commercial Distribution Finance Corp. involving loans it took to build inventory, according to the Orange County Register. GE Commercial says McMahon’s sold property it put up as collateral to get the loans. Some customers, meanwhile, say they paid McMahon’s for RVs and services but haven’t received them. In addition, the state Department of Motor Vehicles is investigating the company, though it hadn’t released the reason for the probe.
EDUCATION
Chapman University in Orange agreed to settle a lawsuit contending race discrimination against a former professor. The school will pay $75,000 and require employees of its business school to go through equal-opportunity employment training.
FINANCE
Irvine-based Opus Bank launched a small-business banking division to focus on businesses with revenues up to $5 million. Miguel Serricchio was named to head the unit. Opus is one of the largest banks based in Orange County. It had about $4 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter, including $3.2 billion in loans and about $3 billion in deposits.
Irvine-based captive automobile finance company Hyundai Capital America will partner with Fair Isaac Corp., or FICO, to provide free credit scores to customers. Hyundai Capital operates as Hyundai Motor Finance and Kia Motors Finance—the finance arms of the auto brands that operate under the Hyundai Group conglomerate in South Korea. Hyundai Group’s U.S. operations headquarters are in Orange County: Hyundai Motor America in Fountain Valley, and Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine, along with Hyundai Capital. San Jose-based FICO specializes in data analytics.
HEALTHCARE
Seven U.S. senators, including California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, asked the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to review Valeant Pharmaceutical Inc.’s hostile takeover bid for Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc. The legislators expressed concerns that a sale to Canada-based Valeant would lead to increased consumer prices and less research and development. Their request was one of several developments related to the takeover attempt last week (see related item, OC Insider column, page 3).
MANUFACTURING
Agave Underground Tequila is expanding into Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Texas. The Irvine-based tequila maker will now sell its line in 22 states and in parts of Canada.
MEDIA
Irvine-based media company Ubiquity Broadcasting Corp. paid $2.25 million in stock for the assets of Monkeybars Inc., an online distribution and content-sharing platform for musicians. Ubiquity trades over the counter and has a market capitalization of about $661 million. Its stock currently is under review for listing on the Nasdaq exchange.
RESTAURANTS
Santa Ana-based Crafty Pizza Inc. plans to open 12 PizzaRev locations in Orange County beginning this summer, the first in Santa Ana. Crafty is the Orange County franchisee of Los Angeles-based PizzaRev, which is expanding in California and six other states, according to its website. The “craft-your-own” pizza segment is growing locally.
REAL ESTATE
Seabreeze Management Co. in Aliso Viejo named Isaiah Henry president of the community association management company. He came from Professional Community Management in Lake Forest.
TECHNOLOGY
Frost Data Capital, a San Juan Capistrano-based venture capital firm and incubator that focuses on “big data,” has partnered with General Electric to launch an incubator to foster technology startups. The venture, dubbed Frost I³, will be in San Juan Capistrano and is expected to help grow 30 or so companies over the next three years. Fairfield, Conn.-based GE and Frost Data will provide investment capital and take equity stakes, said John Vigouroux, Frost Data managing partner and president.
TOURISM
Local tourism and hospitality promoter Visit Laguna Beach named Ashley Johnson director of brand marketing and communications. The role is the top staff position for the group, which is the city’s official visitors bureau. Johnson oversees Visit Laguna Beach’s operations and marketing. She replaces Judith Bijlani, who resigned as executive director in January.
