Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
Cypress-based Vans Inc. promoted its head of marketing to lead a new Americas division at the company. Vans, part of Greensboro, N.C.-based VF Corp., sells clothes, shoes and accessories with roots in skateboarding. The company named Doug Palladini to be vice president, general manager of the new division, which includes the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Latin America. He has been vice president of global marketing at Vans for the past nine years and will continue to head marketing until his replacement is named.
Irvine-based mortgage lender Greenlight Financial Services Inc. agreed to be acquired by Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. in Lewisville, Texas. The deal could fetch up to $75 million in cash, according to Nationstar.
Physicians affiliated with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian learned last week that they won’t be allowed to perform elective abortions any longer. The hospital’s chief executive, Robert Braithwaite, said the decision was for medical reasons, not religious ones. Hoag recently partnered in the newly formed Covenant Health Network with the St. Joseph Health System group of hospitals, which generally ban abortions at its facilities based on guidelines of the Roman Catholic Church.
Irvine-based production and post-production services company Post Modern Group LLC is being sold to Westlake Village-based Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, could total as $23.9 million in cash and stock.
Irvine-based Boot Barn said it reached a deal to buy Houston-based Baskins, which operates 30 stores and a website, on undisclosed terms. The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the quarter, will bring Boot Barn’s store count to 147 locations in 23 states including California, Arizona, Florida and Texas.
Newport Beach-based City Ventures Inc. is the latest Orange County homebuilder taking steps toward an initial public offering. The privately held builder, one of the region’s most aggressive buyers of land since its 2009 formation, said it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission for a possible IPO, terms of which have not been disclosed. The proposed offering is expected to move ahead after the SEC completes its review process, according to a company statement. City Ventures said it would use the net proceeds from the proposed offering to acquire land and for land development, home construction and other related purposes. The company has amassed land holdings across California that could support close to 10,000 homes since its formation. Company officials said in February that they’d like to build its inventory closer to 20,000 lots over the next few years. The company’s financial backers include asset management firm Ares Management LLC and Imperial Capital LLC, both based in Los Angeles. It also recently raised about $125 million in mezzanine debt from New York-based asset manager GSO Capital Partners LP, a unit of the Blackstone Group. Irvine-based TRI Pointe Homes Inc., which raised $233 million in an initial public offering at the end of January, was the first homebuilder in the U.S. to go public in nearly nine years. Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes, which has been privately-held since 2006, is preparing to raise more than $200 million for its IPO (see related story, page 3).
Aliso Viejo-based Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. said it will pay $309 million to acquire two hotels. The company announced it was paying $250 million for the 1,053-room Boston Park Plaza hotel, a historic property near the city’s Boston Common park. The deal is expected to close this year. The hotel investor also said it paid about $59 million for the 250-room Hilton New Orleans St. Charles in downtown New Orleans. Sunstone said it is plan-ning a renovation of the property over the next year.
Laguna Hills Mall has a new owner after San Francisco- and San Diego-based Merlone Geier Partners bought it from Simon Property Group in Indianapolis on undisclosed terms. Merlone Geier said it plans a renovation and the addition of a luxury theater and more national stores to the 40-year-old mall.
The state chopped down the fine it imposed on Disneyland Resort over safety violations tied to a contractor’s injuries in November at Space Mountain. The initial fine proposal was $234,850; the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health cut that to $82,025 last week.
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