AUTOMOTIVE
Kia Motors America signed on as the official automotive sponsor of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The multiyear deal includes a permanent showcase for the Irvine-based automaker’s K900 luxury sedan at three locations on center’s campus. It will have “a significant presence” at high-profile events at the Segerstrom.
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Mazda North American Operations’ Drive for Good holiday promotion has grown into a new role as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s corporate partner of the year. The Irvine-based automaker donated $527,000 to the nonprofit research and treatment facility in Memphis, Tenn., last year, its largest single charitable donation to date.
EDUCATION
Corinthian Colleges Inc. will get more time to strike a deal with the U.S. Department of Education on plans to wind down or sell schools and programs. The Santa Ana-based for profit school operator had indicated it would file the plan on July 1. The education department later said it expected the agreement “in the next few days.” The department recently allowed $16 million in federal financial aid funds to flow to Corinthian. It earlier moved to delay access from a typical two to three days to as long as three weeks, a move that threatened the company’s ability to continue in business. The department initiated the delay because it said the company hadn’t cooperated with investigations into Corinthian’s job placement claims and advertising practices. Corinthian said it had cooperated. Private lenders said they would allow Corinthian to draw down its remaining $9 million in credit, a decision that apparently cleared the way for extended talks with the education department on wind-down plans. Observers said regulators are expected to release sufficient financial aid funds to allow Corinthian to implement the plan over time, minimizing the effect on its 72,000 or so students at more than 100 campuses in the U.S. and Canada.
FINANCE
An activist investor in Irvine-based Banc of California said the compensation of chief executive Steven Sugarman is too high, according to the Orange County Register. Sugarman’s base salary was $600,000 last year, plus a $750,000 bonus, and another $600,000 on stock options, the report said. Richard J. Lashley, a principal at PL Capital LLC, criticized the compensation last month among other complaints. Meanwhile, the bank filed a lawsuit against Basswood Capital Management LLC, accusing the hedge fund manager of breaking a nondisclosure agreement it signed for the purpose of getting nonpublic information as it mulled a private placement with the bank. Basswood declined the placement and acquired a large stake in the bank, and Banc of California’s suit says Basswood tried to join with other investors to exert influence over the bank, though it didn’t publicly disclose the effort as required by law.
HEALTHCARE
Children’s Hospital of Orange County cut 89 jobs in an effort to increase efficiency, according to the Orange County Register. Management and nonmanagement positions were effected. CHOC, which has more than 3,100 employees, made the recent cuts in two phases, the first in mid-May, the other in late June.
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration delayed approving its new acute migraine headache drug and separately approved a drug for treating diabetic macular edema. It said the FDA approved Ozurdex, a biodegradable, sustained-release implant in adults who are scheduled for cataract surgery or have an artificial lens implant. Separately, Allergan said it received a second “complete response letter” from the FDA concerning Semprana, an inhaled aerosol drug previously known as Levadex. Allergan said it expected the next action from the FDA to be in the second quarter of 2015. The FDA’s concerns had to do with the device that delivers the migraine drug, according to Allergan. The FDA decisions came amid Allergan’s ongoing efforts to stave off a hostile takeover attempt by Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and activist investor William Ackman’s Peshing Square Capital Management LP hedge fund.
TECHNOLOGY
John Dickson, former executive vice president and head of operations at the Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent telecom, was appointed to Qlogic Corp.’s board of directors.
