APPAREL
Huntington Beach-based Boardriders Inc. signed a deal to acquire all shares of Billabong International Ltd., creating one of the world’s largest action-sports companies. Boardriders, which was known as Quiksilver, was taken private in a 2016 bankruptcy by Los Angeles-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management LP and renamed. Oaktree owns 19% of Billabong and is one of its senior lenders. Billabong USA is based in Irvine, and as of May was OC’s 23rd largest apparel company with 116 employees. Billabong has hemorrhaged cash for more than five years, tripling losses last year to $58 million.
— Chris Casacchia
AUTOMOTIVE
Hyundai Motor Co. in Seoul announced a partnership with Palo Alto-based Aurora Innovation Inc. to bring an autonomous vehicle to market by 2021. The partnership will center on hardware and software development for automated and self-driving vehicles and back-end data services required for what’s called Level 4 automation.
The Society of Automotive Engineers designation indicates a vehicle can operate without human input or oversight under select conditions. Hyundai is the parent of Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc.
— Chris Casacchia
FINANCE
Newport Beach’s Pacific Investment Management Co., one of the world’s largest investment firms, is investing $200 million in lending platform operator GreenSky LLC of Atlanta, according to the Wall Street Journal. The investment gives GreenSky a $4.5 billion valuation, the paper said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the transaction. That’s 25% higher than the $3.6 billion that Atlanta-based GreenSky received in 2016.
— Peter J. Brennan
HEALTHCARE
Tustin-based Peregrine Pharmaceutical Inc. changed its name to Avid Bioservices Inc., now that it’s a dedicated contract development and manufacturing organization. It’s now trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CDMO. Both changes were to take effect as of market opening today. The Business Journal reported on the company’s restructuring when certain investor groups in July called for it to stop clinical development of its cancer drug to focus on growing Avid.
— Sherry Hsieh
REAL ESTATE
The Irvine Ranch retained its position as the best-selling master-planned community in Orange County last year, and it and three other OC communities ranked among the top 20 in the country. New-home sales on Irvine Co.-controlled land totaled 1,814, according to a report by Irvine-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting, down 9%. Irvine Ranch sales ranked it No. 2 among U.S. master-planned communities. Great Park Neighborhoods was No. 9, Rancho Mission Viejo No. 12 and Baker Ranch in Lake Forest No. 18.
— Mark Mueller
RESTAURANTS
Taco Bell Corp. named Julie Felss Masino brand president, a new position, and expanded roles for three other C-suite execs as part of an international growth push. Masino was most recently over Mattel Inc.’s Fisher Price unit. It also added and expanded international duties to Chief Food Innovation Officer’s Liz Matthews’ plate; Mike Grams, previously chief operating officer, is now chief operations and development officer, and Chief Marketing Officer Marisa Thalberg is now Chief Brand Officer.
— Paul Hughes
A Nekter Juice Bar franchisee plans four locations in Florida this year. It’s a new state for the juice bar chain. Nitin Solanki plans to open locations in West Palm Beach and Aventura in the spring and West Delray Beach and Coral Springs later in the year. Santa Ana-based Nekter has been expanding on the East Coast.
— Paul Hughes
RETAIL
The Sears stores in Brea and Westminster will close in April, according to a list Sears Holdings Corp. released. The closures are part of 103 Sears namesake and Kmart store closings to start in mid-March as the company continues a downscaling it started several years ago to compensate for weak comparable sales. The closures have so far passed by the store at South Coast Plaza, which bought back the property from the company last summer.
— Hannah Mitchell
SERVICES
Real estate data and analytics provider CoreLogic Inc. in Irvine named Arnold Pinkston general counsel, replacing Stergios “Terry” Theologides, who left the company in September after eight years. Pinkston was vice president and deputy general counsel at Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. He was executive vice president and general counsel at Allergan in Irvine as it fended off the Bill Ackman takeover bid.
— Paul Hughes
