For many area firms—particularly those in the software industry, whose employee base has been among the easier sectors to transition to a work-from-home environment during the pandemic—the bigger question is where (and how big) those offices will be.
That’s evident with the news that AI software firm Veritone had
Veritone found a notable company to sublease its headquarters near South Coast Plaza, with restaurant chain California Pizza Kitchen taking over the space for its new HQ.
Other local software companies appear to be on the hunt for the next CPK to come along, as they look to shed some or all of their area offices.
Sizeable portions of the local offices of cybersecurity firm Cylance (now part of BlackBerry), healthcare-focused Kareo, and upstart fintech Happy Money, among many others, are up for sublease, local brokerage data indicates.
None of those firms are reported to be moving their bases out of town, unlike Veritone.
There’s a backlog of local companies ready to fill the loss of $1.1B-valued Veritone (Nasdaq: VERI) and others among the ranks of OC’s public companies, thanks to a bevy of IPOs and SPAC deals in the works.
One such firm is Orange’s Alignment Healthcare. See Peter J. Brennan’s
One notable board member is local exec Jeffrey Margolis, who founded Newport Beach’s TriZetto, and led that healthcare software maker’s own IPO in 1999 and later a $1.4B private equity buyout in 2008.
Margolis, earlier this year named a senior adviser by investment giant Blackstone (NYSE: BX), counts ties to Hoag Hospital, and like Veritone, Denver—he’s the former CEO and current chairman of Welltok, a healthcare-focused tech firm based in the Mile High City.
Another board spot he holds is the chairman position at NextGen Healthcare (Nasdaq: NXGN), the medical and dental practice management service provider previously known as Quality Systems Inc. It was, until a few weeks ago, based in Irvine.
The $1.3B-valued NextGen moved its principal executive office from Irvine to Atlanta in late February, officials indicated. The software firm said it has vacated “a portion” of its Irvine base at the Lakeshore Towers office complex to cut costs. It is actively looking to sublease that space, brokerage data indicates.
The Costa Mesa office of Latham & Watkins is one of the smaller hubs for the global law firm with nearly 30 offices and more than 3,000 lawyers, but it carries a lot of clout.
Charles Ruck, with offices in OC and N.Y., was recently named the global head for the firm’s corporate practice, the Business Journal has learned. Another local, Michelle Johnson, was already the firm’s global head of litigation.
For more on OC’s vibrant legal scene, see next week’s print edition, which includes our annual Law Firms special report.
