Other items of interest Orange County Business Journal
APPAREL
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said it will close up to 200 of its 819 stores in the next 14 months. The retailer announced the closures along with word of a five-year, $60 million loan with San Francisco-based Golden Gate Capital, which gets two seats on the board and the option to buy up to a 20% stake in the company. Pacific Sunwear also arranged a five-year, $100 million credit facility with Wells Fargo Capital Finance. The retailer reported a smaller-than-expected loss of $7.1 million for the October quarter, excluding store-closure costs, and beat analyst projections despite a 6% decline from a year earlier to $242 million.
Foothill Ranch-based Oak-ley Inc. has signed a licensing deal to have Trimera Group of Montreal make, market and distribute its line of women’s swimsuits, beach cover-ups, hats, accessories and swim gear. Merchandise will be sold in Oakley stores and elsewhere starting in late 2012.
FINANCE
California United Bank has agreed to acquire Anaheim-based Premier Commercial Bancorp for $38 million in a deal expected to close in the second quarter. Encino-based California United had assets of about $791 million as of Sept. 30.
Newport Beach-based Research Affiliates LLC filed a patent infringement claim involving systems for creating investment portfolios using certain kinds of accounting data in U.S. District Court. The company contends that New York-based rival WisdomTree Investments Inc. has violated the patent.
HEALTHCARE
Mission Viejo-based Ensign Group Inc. bought Rosewood Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home in Reno, Nev., on undisclosed terms. Rosewood has 99 beds and is 69% occupied. It will be operated by Ensign’s Northern Pioneer Healthcare subsidiary. Also recently, Ensign acquired Homecare Solutions Inc., a home health agency based in Denver, for an undisclosed amount.
HOTELS
Walt Disney Co. reached an agreement with Unite Here Local 11 on a five-year contract for 2,100 hotel workers at its Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Hotel employees had been working without a contract for almost four years, and had staged a one-day walkout and numerous protests. The workers voted to approve the contract that gives workers the choice of paying up to $10 per week to remain in the union health plan or join a Disney plan and receive a bonus.
MEDIA
The Orange County Register’s vice president of circulation, Larry Riley, was named publisher of the Appeal-Democrat in Yuba County. The Northern California newspaper is a sister publication of the Register under the umbrella of Irvine-based Freedom Communi-cations Inc.
REAL ESTATE
The Newport Beach Planning Commission approved a new clubhouse at the Newport Beach Country Club on Pacific Coast Highway. The project includes almost 52,000 square feet. The commission approved the construction as a part of a master plan for the entire country club. Lee & Sakahara Architects of Irvine designed the new clubhouse. The country club is a subsidiary of International Bay Club Inc., which also owns the Balboa Bay Club. A sale of both properties to battery magnate and reputed billionaire Winston Chung was announced earlier this year.
A state appeals court has overturned a judge’s order that the proposed One Broadway Plaza go before voters in a second referendum. The Fourth District Court of Appeals disagreed with Superior Court Judge Derek H. Hunt’s ruling that a second referendum was needed because Santa Ana officials eliminated a voter-approved requirement that the tower be 50% leased before construction could begin. The appeals court said a 2005 referendum on the project by developer Michael Harrah concerned only zoning issues, so the city’s action involved an unrelated matter. The rulings came on a lawsuit filed by the Coalition for Accountable Government Ethics.
OTHER NEWS
The Orange County Clerk Recorder’s Office reported a year-low 2,661 filings for fictitious business name—also called DBAs, and viewed as a key indicator of new business formations—in November. That’s roughly the same number as last year but down about 4% from this October.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: The outlook on employment in Orange County in 2012, according to Chapman University in Orange. The school’s annual economic forecast from the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics sees a gain of 21,000 new jobs here next year for a 1.6% boost on an employment base of about 1.4 million. OC is expected to finish this year up 13,000 jobs, a 1% gain. The service sector is expected to account for the most new jobs, with 15,000 next year. The only sector expected to shrink is federal government employment, with a loss of 300 jobs.
