ADVERTISING
Irvine-based marketing firm Advantage Solutions Inc. bought Mill Valley, Calif. agency Beekeeper Marketing on undisclosed terms. Beekeeper helps brands develop and execute Amazon sales, marketing and supply chain strategies. It represents more than 100 natural, organic and specialty consumer packaged goods companies.
Beekeeper, founded in 2007, will keep its name and operate as a unit within Advantage’s technology division.
— Subrina Hudson
The largest advertising agency based in Santa Ana, Amusement Park, named Melissa Norton media director, replacing Cathy Sosa, who retired in June after 30 years with the agency. Norton is responsible for integrating media planning with creative, social and digital strategies. She previously served as group director at Santa Monica-based ad agency RPA, where she managed retail media strategies for automakers Honda and Acura. — Subrina Hudson
APPAREL
361 Degrees International Ltd. in Irvine appointed Isaac “Ike” Alvear head of sales. He’ll be responsible for North American sales for the Chinese apparel and footwear company, which bills itself as the second-largest athletic brand in China. He previously served as vice president of sales for running-shoe label Hoka One One in Goleta.
361 Degrees trades on the Hong Kong exchange at a market value of about $615 million.
— Subrina Hudson
AUTOMOTIVE
Cypress-based automaker Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. said it will expand field operations from two zone offices to four, adding a regional office at its headquarters in Cypress, and a location in Orlando, Fla. Current field offices are in Swedesboro, N.J., and Irving, Texas. President and Chief Executive Officer Fred Diaz said it’s the next step in the brand’s evolution. “Our dealers are at the core of our road to success, and we’re dedicated to staying in tune with them and providing the level of support they need.”
— Subrina Hudson
EDUCATION
Real estate firm Bixby Land Co. in Newport Beach gave $100,000 to the University of California-Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business to create an endowment fund at the Center for Real Estate. The award is a tribute to former Bixby chief executive William “Bill” Halford, who died in February. The Bill Halford Family and Bixby Land Co. Student Award will help merit-based graduate and undergraduate students who’ve demonstrated strong interest in real estate studies, according to the company. Halford was chairman of the Dean’s Advisory Board and Real Estate Advisory Board at UCI’s business school.
— Subrina Hudson
HEALTHCARE
Masimo Corp. saw shares jump more than 7% to a market value of nearly $5.6 billion after posting strong second quarter results and upping its annual revenue guidance. The Irvine-based noninvasive patient monitoring device maker saw product revenue increase 12.4% year-over-year, to $202 million. Total revenue reached $211.6 million, and earnings per share grew 33% to $0.73. It now expects 2018 revenue of $850 million, up from the previous guidance of $846 million, with adjusted earnings per share expected to come in at $2.90, up from the earlier figure of $2.88.
— Mark Mueller
Irvine-based Quality Systems Inc. reported $133.2 million in revenue for its latest quarterly results, a 1.7% year-over-year increase. It also reported quarterly earnings of $0.18 per share for the quarter ending in June, compared to a loss per share of $0.17 a year ago. Shares in the company, which develops health information management software and operates under the NextGen Healthcare name, are up some 3.5% since the July 31 earnings announcement. The company has a market value of $1.3 billion.
— Sherry Hsieh
HOSPITALITY
BirchStreet Systems Inc. in Newport Beach promoted Stephen Markle to chief executive, succeeding founder Sushil Garg, who remains board chairman and will continue to drive initiatives and work with larger enterprise clients. BirchStreet is a cloud-based buying platform primarily for hotels and restaurants. In recent years, it’s gone into other industries and has some operations in Asia. It provides back-office ordering, payment, and budget and inventory control services.
— Paul Hughes
