The deadly, Class 5 typhoon that engulfed several coastal towns in the Philippines hit home for local technology executive Marla Rausch.
The founder and chief executive of Irvine-based Animation Vertigo grew up in the capital city of Manila, which was largely undamaged by Typhoon Haiyan.
In 2004, Rausch launched her motion-capture business with a stable of animation artists from her home country. The company now employs more than 35 software engineers, graphic artists and 3-D animators, carving out a niche in the entertainment industry working on video game hits such as “Call of Duty: Black Ops” 1 and 2 by Activision Blizzard Inc. and Quantic Dream’s “Heavy Rain.”
Her employees weren’t directly affected by the typhoon, which killed more than 5,500 people and caused an economic hit of some $1.4 billion, as one-third of the country’s rice-growing areas were damaged.
Animation Vertigo has nonetheless spent the past few weeks volunteering in water and food drives and has partnered with various relief organizations to bring needed supplies for hard-hit regions in Guiuan, Cabiz and Tacloban City, a midsize town Rausch visited last year that heavily relies on tourism, fishing and agriculture.
“This is going to take years to try and pick up the pieces,” said Rausch, who just concluded a trip to the Philippines to participate in a private-sector initiative to evacuate displaced residents.
Her company has also joined Box of Hope charity to deliver mobile play centers for affected children in the region, as well coloring books, toys and other items.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Symmetricom Buy Complete
Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp. completed its $230 million buy of Symmetricom Inc. in an effort to strengthen its timing and frequency business.
The technology developed by the San Jose-based company includes atomic clocks and timing distribution and synching systems that carry diverse applications, from data transfer in cellular base stations to GPS satellite systems.
Symmetricom has struggled to turn a profit, posting a $2.7 million loss on $210.9 million in revenue in the 12 months through June, the end of its fiscal year.
Big customers include telecoms such as AT&T, Verizon, and Duetsche Telecom, as well as defense stalwarts Boeing, Alcatel-Lucent and Honeywell.
“There’s zero overlap in products and a huge overlap in customers,” Russ Garcia, Microsemi’s executive vice president of global marketing, said of the buy.
The buy plays into Microsemi’s strategy to offer more complete technology offerings to big clients, Garcia said.
“That’s really a key part of our overall strategy, this whole total solution and increasing our footprint at key accounts,” he said.
Microsemi will acquire about 400 Symmetricom employees, who will be integrated into the company’s San Jose operation. Symmetricom had about 500 employees when the deal was first announced in October.
Microsemi projects the acquisition will add 22 to 25 cents in earnings next year.
Symmetricom, under the terms of the original agreement, could have solicited bids from third parties during a “go shop” period through Nov. 8, but another buyer failed to outbid Microsemi.
