FINANCE
Partners Bank of California, a Mission Viejo based firm with $300 million in assets, hired Chris Walsh as president. No. 15 on the Business Journal’s list of OC-based commercial banks, Partners has connections to local hospitals, Walsh said. “We’re looking to grow.” Walsh was previously director of banking at Blue Gate Bank, a Costa Mesa bank being sold to Big Poppy Holdings of Santa Rosa, Calif., for an undisclosed price. Blue Gate will change its name to Poppy Bank. Walsh said he left Blue Gate on amicable terms.
— Peter J. Brennan
AutoGravity, an Irvine-based auto-lending fintech, hired Jennifer Ishiguro as executive vice president and general counsel. She was previously chief legal officer at Gateway One Lending & Finance LLC, the auto finance company subsidiary of TCF Financial Corp. AutoGravity’s app has been downloaded about 2 million times and has generated about $2.5 billion in financing.
— Peter J. Brennan
HEALTHCARE
Following a letter from activist investors Appaloosa LP in Miami, Fla., and New York-based Senator Investment Group LP to Allergan PLC’s board of directors recommending changes—including separating the chief executive and chairman roles—billionaire Carl Icahn took an undisclosed position in Allergan, according to Bloomberg. “Given the company’s depressed stock price, we’re not particularly surprised to see activists circling, but it doesn’t change our view that the company possesses unique wide-moat assets and remains undervalued,” wrote Morningstar Inc. analyst Michael Waterhouse in an analyst note. He said there’s “no visibility on what activist investors may eventually demand.”
— Sherry Hsieh
HOSPITALITY
Montage International’s Pendry Hotels lifestyle division will manage a 164-room hotel when it opens in 2021 as part of a Manhattan mixed-use development by Brookfield Property Partners LP. Plans call for Brookfield’s Manhattan West to have seven million square feet of office, food, retail and homes and a two-acre public park across the street from Related Cos.’ Hudson Yards development, where about 18 million square feet of mixed-use offerings is planned through 2022, including a Sheraton and Marriott, according to the projects’ websites. The 30-story Pendry faces West 33rd Street and will also have 45 condos, Brookfield’s site said.
—Paul Hughes
SERVICES
ShiftPixy Inc. raised $9 million in gross proceeds from a June 4 private placement of 8% senior secured convertible notes with institutional investors. It plans to place temporary and short-term shift workers in restaurants and hotels via an online platform and smartphone app, effectively offloading temp agency services to technology. It said it intends to use the proceeds for working capital as it expands to other cities. It opened an office in Chicago last week and in New York in August.
— Paul Hughes
TRANSPORTATION
John Wayne Airport has another new destination in Frontier Airlines’ San Antonio route, which starts on Aug. 13. The nonstop adds a second city it flies to from here after Denver, where it’s based. It will be on an Airbus A320, 180-passenger capacity, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Departures are at 10:47 a.m., arrivals at John Wayne at 5:26 p.m.
— Paul Hughes
