ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Up: The median price of OC home, which inched up nearly $2,000 or 0.4% in February from January, the California Association of Realtors said. Sales rose 5% from a year earlier and 3% from January.
TOP STORY
Layoffs in February pulled back from a surge in January as the county’s unemployment rate returned to below 10% last month, according to the state Employment Development Department. Unemployment here was 9.7% last month, down from January’s 10.2%—the peak for the county in the current downturn. A year earlier, unemployment here was 7.9%. For the 12 months through February, employers here shed 53,000 workers, a 3.8% decline. The county saw a gain of 10,300 jobs from January to February for a total of 1.35 million nonfarm workers.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine’s Red 5 Studios Inc., a maker of online games, was acquired by a Chinese video game developer and operator for about $20 million. Shanghai-based The9 Ltd., which develops and operates multiplayer online games, bought a majority stake in Red 5.
Irvine’s Blizzard Entertainment Inc., the top maker of online video games, said its yearly fan fest is set to stay in Anaheim. BlizzCon is set to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center from Oct. 22 to Oct. 23 after rumors of a potential move to Las Vegas.
HEALTHCARE
Brea-based Beckman Coulter Inc. said issues with a heart disease test could impact its 2010 results. The Food and Drug Administration said changes to a Beckman test used to detect proteins after heart damage were made without regulatory clearances. Beckman said it believes it will have to limit the use of the test on some of its machines used by hospitals and laboratories.
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into executives of shuttered Tustin lender Medical Capital Holdings. Lawyers for Medical Capital’s Sidney M. Field and Joseph “Joey” Lampariello revealed the probe recently in an emergency request to use $150,000 per month in frozen assets for legal bills, which was denied. Medical Capital has been implicated in an alleged Ponzi scheme after being charged with allegedly failing to disclose $18.5 million in fees to investors.
Aliso Viejo-based Valeant Pharmaceuti-cals International sold patents related to DNA to Bothell, Wash.-based MDRNA Inc. for an undisclosed price. MDRNA is developing drugs that are capable of stopping the action of genes that are linked to certain diseases.
REAL ESTATE
Bank of America Corp. sued First American Corp., claiming the Santa Ana-based title insurer wrongly denied or failed to respond timely to more than 5,000 of Bank of America’s claims related to title defects. The claims relate to more than $500 million of loan losses tied to defaulted home equity loans and lines of credit, according to the complaint, which was filed in North Carolina. First American is looking “to resolve this matter outside of court with continued discussions.”
Richard Kelly, owner of Sutra Restaurant and Nightclub, recently closed escrow on Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square mall, home to Sutra. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Sources said that the sale included the assumption of a loan with the property’s lender, ING Group NV. Kelly, who heads up Newport Beach-based developer and investor Kelly Holdings LLC, also recently acquired Sutra.
APPAREL
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. reported a better-than-expected profit for the three months through January of $10.2 million, up 11% from a year earlier and topping the $8.1 million expected on average by analysts. Sales were down 2% to $151 million, in line with the $151.8 million expected by Wall Street. For the three months through April, Wet Seal said it forecasts a profit of $4.1 million to $5.1 million. At the high end, Wet Seal’s outlook matches what Wall Street had been expecting.
OTHER NEWS
Foothill Ranch-based Kaiser Aluminum Corp. raised $142 million in a debt offering. The company, which shapes aluminum into custom pieces, sold $150 million worth of debt that can be converted to cash. The company also could sell an additional $25 million worth of debt to cover extra demand. Kaiser is using part of the proceeds to buy back about $45 million of its stock. It also plans to pay off a credit line and strike a new $200 million, four-year line of credit.
San Clemente-based hotel owner Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. was upgraded by a Wall Street analyst citing an increase in business travelers and better prospects for the industry. J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Joseph Greff upgraded the company’s stock to “overweight” from “neutral.”
Aliso Viejo-based Octane, a booster group that supports local technology and medical startups, combined with the Orange County Venture Group. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. All operations and program management now will fall under Octane.
Seal Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which runs natural gas fueling stations for fleets of taxis, buses and other vehicles, is taking over operation of 13 stations in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the company said late last week. Clean Energy struck a deal with Britain’s National Grid PLC to take over operation of compressed natural gas vehicle fueling stations in Manhattan, Long Island and New England. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Clean Energy is expected to run and upgrade the stations, which serve National Grid and other trucks as well as taxis and shuttles.
