EDUCATION
Richard Gannotta was named chief executive of UCI Health, the clinical, medical education and research arm of the University of California-Irvine. He’d been interim chief executive since February after the resignation of Howard Federoff, former vice chancellor of health and chief executive. The roles were split in two after Federoff’s departure. Gannotta will oversee the health system, hospital and outpatient research and specialty care centers. Before joining UCI, he served as senior vice present of hospitals at NYC Health & Hospitals, the country’s largest public healthcare system.
— Sherry Hsieh
HEALTHCARE
San Clemente-based ReShape Lifesciences Inc. raised nearly $1.5 million from several institutional investors for the purchase of 374,572 shares of its common stock at $3.92 per share, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It develops minimally invasive medical devices to treat obesity and metabolic disease. It plans to issue warrants for up to 280,929 shares of common stock at a purchase price of about 13 cents each, totaling $30,000. Proceeds will go to further commercialize efforts, as well as clinical and product development activities and for general working capital.
— Sherry Hsieh
PeproMene Bio Inc. raised $40.2 million from 17 investors in a Series B funding round, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing said. The Irvine-based biotech has a preclinical blood cancer immunotherapy licensed from City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte that uses a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy to treat non-Hodgkin lymphomas. A Series A round in September raised $4 million.
— Dana Bartholomew
HOSPITALITY
Montage International’s Montage Los Cabos opened recently after being delayed for several years by hurricanes and the real estate recession. The property is part of San José del Cabo, a 40-acre resort in Santa Maria Bay, in Baja California Sur, and the Irvine-based resort and lifestyle hotel manager’s first non-U.S. project run by Montage. It has 122 guest rooms, 52 for-sale residences, a 40,000-square-foot spa, 30,000 square feet of meeting space, three restaurants and a grab-and-go sandwich-and-pastry market. A Fred Couples signature golf course opens later this year.
— Paul Hughes
OBITUARIES
Stan Ross, a major influence on Southern California’s real estate industry through his accounting and finance work, died at age 82 on June 10 from complications of a stroke. In one of Orange County’s biggest-ever land deals, he represented Donald Bren, Alfred Taubman and other developers during a bidding war for Irvine Co. in the 1970s. He later served on the board of Newport Beach-based Irvine Co., now the region’s dominant real estate company.
— Ciaran McEvoy
REAL ESTATE
Rimrock Capital Management LLC, an Irvine-based private equity group with $4 billion in assets under management, is reorganizing LakePoint Land LLC, a 1,300-acre, Georgia complex known for its sports facilities. LakePoint Land, 40 minutes north of Atlanta, filed a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It launched in 2012 and is marketed as a family-vacation sports destination, attracting more than a million visitors annually. Rimrock, which invests in a variety of debt, lent about $50 million to LakePoint Land over the past five years. In 2016, LakePoint Land deeded land to Rimrock as part of a loan workout.
— Peter J. Brennan
St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc., the largest commercial construction company in Orange County, named Mike Myers president of its Southern California region. Myers, based in Newport Beach, takes over for Randy Highland, who retires in August after 29 years at McCarthy. He began his construction career with McCarthy more than 20 years ago as an intern.
— Peter J. Brennan
RETAIL
State Attorney General Xavier Becerra named Newport Beach food manufacturer Graceleigh Inc. in a lawsuit last week for selling toddler formula with high levels of lead. Park City, Utah-based manufacturer Nutraceutical Corp. was also named in the complaint. Goat milk-based Graceleigh formula Sammy’s Milk is alleged to have more than 15 times the allowable level of lead, a statement by Becerra said. The company pulled the products after receiving cease-and-desist letters.
— Subrina Hudson
