FINANCE
Fund of hedge funds PaamcoPrisma Holdings co-chief executives Jane Buchan and Girish Reddy are stepping down a year after combining their firms. Buchan, who co-founded Irvine-based Pacific Alternative Asset Management Co. in 2000, and Reddy, who co-founded Prisma in 2004, are “transitioning to advisory roles” on Aug. 1, the company said. Buchan said it’s “time to pass the torch, which has always been our dream.” Paamco will be led by a six-member executive committee chaired by Prisma’s Eric Wolfe and including Paamco execs Anne-Gaelle Carlton, Mayer Cherem and Von Hughes. PaamcoPrisma has headquarters in Irvine and New York.
— Peter J. Brennan
AutoGravity named a chief executive and chief technology officer to replace two executives who unexpectedly departed the fast-growing Irvine fintech in the past two months. Alex Mallmann replaced co-founder and prior Chief Executive Andy Hinrichs, who left in May. Jason Bonifay takes on the chief technology officer role, replacing Sheng Wang, who’d been with the company almost since its 2016 founding and who left a few weeks after Hinrichs. Mallmann had been president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance China since 2014, navigating it through dramatic growth. Bonifay joined AutoGravity in May as vice president of engineering.
— Peter J. Brennan
Bond investor Bill Gross recently bought a 5,500-square-foot Laguna Beach home for nearly $36 million, the Orange County Register reported. The 1970s oceanfront property, which is on a third of an acre, was listed earlier at $34.999 million. Gross and his former wife, Sue, divorced last year after more than 30 years of marriage, though a prickly court fight continues.
— Hannah Mitchell
HEALTHCARE
Avid Bioservices Inc. named Daniel Hart chief financial officer. He previously held the same role at ENO Holdings Inc., a family of companies focused on the residential real estate market, its services including brokerage, franchiser, property management, title and escrow. Tustin-based Avid transitioned about a year ago from a clinical-stage pharmaceuticals company to a pure-play biologics contract development and manufacturing services provider. The latter was the cash-generating arm that supported drug development.
— Sherry Hsieh
RESTAURANTS
Taco Bell Corp. in Irvine signed current franchisees in Spain and Brazil to add 40 locations a year between the two countries over the next decade. Agreements with Sforza Holding Group in São Paulo and Casual Brands Group in Madrid, are Taco Bell’s first master franchise deals, meaning local operators find franchisees, collect fees, and give the chain a cut. Master franchising can help brands expand faster; growth offsets lower per-store fees flowing to parent companies. Taco Bell plans 1,000 international locations, 9,000 locations overall and $15 billion in systemwide sales by 2022. Last year, it had 350 international locations, 6,900 locations overall and systemwide sales of $9.7 billion.
— Paul Hughes
China-based Yang’s Braised Chicken and Rice plans three franchised locations in OC following its first store in the U.S., a corporate location that opened in Tustin last year. Irvine-based franchisee Xiang Wang plans to open a location a month starting in November, in Lake Forest, Santa Ana, and Aliso Viejo. Yang’s has one menu item—the one in the name—made at three levels of spiciness, and, according to franchise disclosure documents filed with the state, it has 6,000 franchised locations, which the company said are overseas.
— Paul Hughes
SERVICES
Santa Ana-based Allied Universal, the largest private security firm in the U.S., said it will pay $1 billion to acquire U.S. Security Associates from Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division. Georgia-based U.S. Security reported $95 million in adjusted profit last year on revenue of more than $1.5 billion. It employs more than 50,000 people. The buy will push Allied’s employment above 200,000 and sales to more than $7 billion. It will allow it to expand to Canada, Central America and the United Kingdom, as well as other parts of the U.S. It said it will fund the transaction with additional indebtedness and up to $200 million in equity from existing shareholders.
— Peter J. Brennan
