APPAREL
Wet Seal Inc. has until Feb. 17 to get its shares above $1 for 10 consecutive days or face delisting by Nasdaq, the exchange warned in a letter to the Foothill Ranch-based retailer. Wet Seal shares had closed below the $1 minimum required for continued listing for the prior 30 trading days.
ECONOMY
Orange County exports are expected to grow by nearly 6% this year to about $26.2 billion, according to a study by California State University Fullerton’s Center for Economic Analysis and Forecasting. OC had $24 billion in exports in 2012, the latest figure available, according to the school’s research. Numbers for 2013 and on are forecasts. Farka and Fleissig said the county will have had 3% growth in exports in 2013 to about $24.7 billion. The growth rate is likely to be 5.7% this year and about 7.6% in 2015.
EDUCATION
Irvine-based Brandman University received $99,600 from the Ahmanson Foundation in Los Angeles to fund technology purchases to help students with disabilities. The money will fund “adaptive technology,” including products and services that help with note-taking, listening to lectures, closed-captioning and Braille equipment. The school said military veterans are a key group receiving such help. The private nonprofit is part of the Chapman University system and teaches about 12,000 students a year. The Ahmanson Foundation funds cultural projects by nonprofit groups.
ENERGY
Garden Grove-based power plant owner and operator 808 Renewable Energy Corp. began trading on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol RNWR. It first filed for an initial public offering in October 2012 but rescinded the filing after raising nearly $2.8 million through a private stock sale. The clean-technology company has raised about $30 million to date and carries no debt. It has lost about $15 million since its inception in 2009, according to regulatory filings.
HEALTHCARE
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management LP were to submit a request Friday to Irvine-based Allergan Inc. calling for a special meeting of shareholders, according to reports. Allergan is fighting off a $50 billion hostile takeover bid by Valeant and Pershing Square. Neither Valeant nor Ackman had confirmed the reports as of press time. Sources told CNBC that Valeant and Pershing Square have more than 30% of shareholders’ support in favor of holding the meeting. The Canadian drug maker and Ackman’s hedge fund, which owns 9.7% of Allergan, are seeking to oust six Allergan directors and open discussions on the deal. The reports came a day after Judge David Carter of the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana indicated that Valeant and Pershing Square are ready to go on the meeting (see OC Insider item, page 3).
REAL ESTATE
OC and Los Angeles’ housing market is the country’s least affordable, according to real estate website Zillow, which says a family in the region with a median household income of $59,424 would put 47.9% of its income into a median-priced apartment and 42.6% into a median-priced home. Zillow said prices here have grown faster than incomes in recent years.
RESTAURANTS
Costa Mesa-based grilled chicken chain El Pollo Loco Inc. signed a multibrand operator to develop 20 franchised locations in Houston and San Antonio. Fremont, Calif.-based AA Pollo Inc. is the new franchisee. It’s owned by Anil Yadav, who owns and operates 262 Jack in the Box, Sizzler, and Denny’s restaurants in California and Texas. More than 80% of the restaurants are Jack in the Box. El Pollo Loco said it had identified 80 potential locations in Houston for the chain. The company went public July 25 and traded recently at a market cap of $1.1 billion.
