AMUSEMENT
Bob Chapek, head of the Walt Disney Co.’s parks and resorts division, is viewed as the successor to Bob Iger, according to Bloomberg News, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. Iger has been chief executive since 2005 and is scheduled to retire in 2019. He may name a chief operating officer or president before he departs. Since taking over the theme-park division in 2015, Chapek ensured the Shanghai resort turned a profit in its first year of operation, and boosted U.S. parks attendance, Bloomberg said.
— Peter J. Brennan
APPAREL
Huntington Beach-based Boardriders Inc. offered to buy the shares of Billabong International Ltd. that it doesn’t yet own for $1 apiece in a deal that values Billabong at about $150 million. Boardriders was Quiksilver Inc. before a bankruptcy and being taken private by Oaktree Capital Management LP. L.A.-based Oaktree also owns 19% of Billabong and is one of its senior lenders. The offer is about 28% higher than Billabong’s last closing price, and the Australia-based apparel company’s board has given Boardriders due diligence access to its books. Billabong has hemorrhaged money for more than five years.
— Paul Hughes
AUTOMOTIVE
Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc. unveiled its small utility vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Kona has a 2.0-liter Atkinson Cycle 4-cylinder engine with 6-speed automatic transmission. Amenities include touch-screen Apple CarPlay/Android Auto capability and forward collision-avoidance assist. Analysts blame slim SUV offerings for Hyundai’s 15% drop in U.S. sales through October. The Kona will be at dealers in the first quarter.
— Chris Casacchia
An Orange County Superior Court judge overturned a $256.5 million damages award from earlier this year in a fraud case against Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp., the financing arm of Nissan Motor Ltd., according to Automotive News. Judge Thierry Colaw ruled that a juror gave false answers and was likely biased against Nissan Motor Acceptance. The damages had been awarded to the former Superior Automotive Group, which was made up of Nissan and Toyota dealerships in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area owned by OC resident Michael Kahn and went out of business in 2009. NMAC defaulted on the dealerships following past-due inventory payments, and Kahn had said he reached out to it in an effort to reconcile the issue but was told there was nothing he could do.
— Hannah Mitchell
FINANCE
Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Portland-based Umpqua Holdings Corp., hired Todd Abboud to the new position of regional director, executive vice president, for OC. He previously worked at Bank of the West, where he most recently served as a managing director for Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Abboud, based in Newport Beach, is Umpqua’s first executive primarily focused on OC.
— Peter J. Brennan
HEALTHCARE
Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. will lay off 73 employees by the end of January as part of a restructuring, the majority outside of its Aliso Viejo headquarters. The pharmaceutical company employs 192 in OC and 680 companywide, according to the Business Journal’s list of drugmakers. The layoffs would reduce the local workforce by about 1% to 2%.
— Pete Weitzner and Sherry Hsieh
RxSight Inc. received Food and Drug Administration approval for its Light Adjustable Lens technology. The Aliso Viejo-based ophthalmic company said its device is the “first and only FDA-approved intraocular lens” that allows doctors to apply the patient’s prescription directly into the eye lens. RxSight said it “will focus on its post-market study, additional indications, platform improvement and building scalable infrastructure.”
— Sherry Hsieh
MANUFACTURING
RSI Home Products Inc., an Anaheim cabinet maker started by well-known local businessman Ron Simon, is selling itself for $1.075 billion in cash and stock to American Woodmark Corp. in Virginia.
— Peter Brennan
SERVICES
Emerald Expositions in San Juan Capistrano bought Connecting Point Marketing Group in Rye, N.H., on undisclosed terms. Emerald runs events that include conferences and trade and awards shows. CPMG runs nine senior executive events that are private, invitation-only, and “hosted”—meaning the company pays for buyer-attendees to come, and generates revenue from show suppliers and sponsorships.
— Paul Hughes
