ENTERTAINMENT
An outdoor amphitheater that will temporarily replace the former Irvine Meadows is scheduled to open this weekend next to Great Park in Irvine. Acts over Oct. 5 to 7 include rock bank Young the Giant, which originated in Irvine. Irvine Meadows closed a year ago after a 35-year run. FivePoint Communities, developer of Great Park Neighborhoods, partnered with Live Nation Entertainment to design and build the 12,000-seat FivePoint Amphitheatre. The two also plan a permanent venue at Great Park.
— Hannah Mitchell
FINANCE
Opkix Inc. in Costa Mesa said it raised $5.4 million in Series A funding, and it now has a value of $90 million. The maker of a wearable, smartphone-connected camera has no products on the market—the official launch is planned for January. Ground-floor investors include the owner of Spencer Gifts LLC, Steven Silverstein; Quiksilver founder Bob McKnight; Jennifer Prince, managing director at Twitter Inc., and Travis Brasher and John Kruger, who recently sold TravisMathew LLC in Huntington Beach.
— Mediha DiMartino
HEALTHCARE
Anaheim-based MeriCal LLC, which makes probiotics and other dietary supplements, will acquire Global Health Industries in Ogden, Utah. Global Health specializes in probiotic manufacturing and packaging, including bacteria, spores and yeast products. Terms were undisclosed. The combined entity will employ nearly 550 at six sites across the U.S. MeriCal was acquired by Chicago-based Linden Capital Partners LLC last October.
— Sherry Hsieh
Ensign Group Inc. in Mission Viejo acquired Comfort Hospice Care, a hospice provider serving Las Vegas, Pahrump and surrounding communities in Southern Nevada. The purchase will be added to Ensign’s home health and hospice business, Cornerstone Healthcare Inc., in Meridian, Idaho. Cornerstone offers services from agencies in several states. It now operates 43 sites in 10 Western states.
— Sherry Hsieh
HOSPITALITY
Irvine-based Pacific Hospitality Group sold one of its high-end hotel properties, Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara County. The 360-room resort went to two nontraded real estate investment trusts run by New York-based Carey Watermark Investors. Financial terms weren’t immediately disclosed.
— Mark Mueller
Chris Harrison will be general manager of the Marriott Irvine Spectrum, which opens in December (see related story, page 1). He previously directed hotel operations at the Irvine Marriott under that property’s GM. Harrison has a Harvard MBA. He’s worked for the company for 11 years.
— Paul Hughes
MANUFACTURING
AMVAC Chemical Corp., a subsidiary of American Vanguard Corp. in Newport Beach, bought OHP Inc. in Mainland, Pa., on undisclosed terms. American Vanguard is a publicly traded chemicals maker with $312 million in 2016 revenue; OHP, originally Olympic Horticultural Products, has annual sales of $20-25 million, and is expected to boost AMVAC’s “non-crop” business by 50%.
— Paul Hughes
RESTAURANTS
The Stonehill Tavern restaurant at Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point will close after a final New Year’s Eve and be rebranded as Bourbon Steak, which will also be run by Michael Mina, the Orange County Register reported. Bourbon Steak is scheduled to open in February, the report said.
— Hannah Mitchell
RETAIL
ASICS Corp., the parent of Irvine-based ASICS America Corp., selected Saatchi & Saatchi as its global creative agency. The footwear giant previously worked with 180LA, which last year took over the U.S. portion of the account from San Diego-based Vitro. Saatchi & Saatchi’s Los Angeles office developed the “I Move Me” campaign ASICS launched in July.
— Mediha DiMartino
TRANSPORTATION
Long Beach Airport said August commercial passenger traffic rose 16% over a year earlier to about 316,000. Year-to-date passenger traffic was up 39% to 2.5 million. Jet Blue Airways was the busiest carrier by passenger count, followed by Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines. Southwest’s traffic was higher after acquiring reallocated flight slots; American Airlines’ traffic declined sharply after giving up slots at Long Beach.
— Paul Hughes
