TOP STORIES
Neomend Inc., an Irvine medical products maker, raised $30 million in a fourth round of funding. Clarus Ventures, with offices in San Francisco and Boston, led the funding with a $17 million investment. Other investors include Bay Area firms Prospect Venture Partners and Sanderling Ventures. Neomend, which was founded in 1999 and makes sealants and products that prevent scarring during surgeries, said the funding will help move it toward breaking even on cash flow.
Cypress-based swimsuit maker Manhat-tan Beachwear LLC sold a majority stake to a private equity firm. Manhattan Beachwear, which has yearly sales of $65 million, sold an 80% stake to Cleveland-based Linsalata Capital Partners Inc. Linsalata is estimated to have paid $20 million to $50 million. Founder and Chief Executive Allan Colvin and other Manhattan Beachwear executives also made investments in the company and are set to stay in place.
TECHNOLOGY
Coraid Inc., a startup maker of data storage computers and electronics for corporate networks, raised $10 million in venture funding and moved from San Clemente to the Bay Area. The company relocated to Redwood Shores to be closer to investors, which include San Francisco-based Azure Capital Partners and Palo Alto-based Allegis Capital. Coraid still has a small operation in San Clemente, under former chief executive Jim Kemp, now vice president of operations.
Newport Beach-based chipmaker Mindspeed Technologies Inc. posted a current-quarter sales outlook of $38.9 million to $40.3 million, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations of $37 million. The chipmaker didn’t give a profit outlook. Analysts, on average, are expecting profits of $1.4 million. The improved sales outlook came on the heels of Mindspeed’s quarterly results for the three months through Jan. 1. Mindspeed reported sales of $37 million, up 34% from a year earlier and in line with analysts’ expectations.
Irvine-based startup Quartics Inc., a maker of chips that help consumer electronics stream high-definition video, raised $6.5 million in a recent round of venture funding. Quartics is aiming to sell its chips to companies that make PCs, digital TVs, set-top boxes and graphics cards that handle video and other images in computers.
Aliso Viejo-based QLogic Corp., a maker of electronics for data storage networks, reported quarterly profits of $36 million, down 16% from a year earlier but ahead of Wall Street expectations of $33 million. The company posted sales of $149 million, down 9% but topping the $147 million in sales expected by analysts.
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss drug distribution charges against Broadcom Corp.’s cofounder Henry Nicholas, six weeks after the judge dismissed criminal charges related to stock options backdating against Nicholas, Broadcom cofounder Henry Samueli and former financial chief Bill Ruehle. The judge last week also dismissed civil claims on Nicholas’ jet and homes. Carney also threw out a guilty plea from former Broadcom executive Nancy Tullos, who had been charged in the criminal backdating investigation.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based medical software maker Quality Systems Inc. posted a profit of $13.2 million for the recently ended quarter, meeting expectations. Revenue was up 14% to $75 million, slightly below analysts’ projection of $75.5 million.
Irvine-based drug maker Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that it would stop work on a drug for treating benign enlarged prostates after mixed results from a clinical trial and new competition. Spectrum said it expects to save up to $40 million by dropping further clinical work on ozarelix.
Three Orange County hospitals were fined $50,000 apiece for errors that caused patients serious injury or death, according to the state Department of Public Health. The hospitals are Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, which left a sponge in a patient; St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, which failed to pay attention to a cardiac monitoring device; and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, which saw a patient’s leg crushed by a MRI machine.
OTHER NEWS
The operator of the movie theaters at The Shops at Anaheim GardenWalk filed for bankruptcy reorganization in a dispute with the mall’s operator over rent and contractor payments. Cinema Fusion said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a defensive move against eviction litigation. The theater is run by Gardenwalk Cinemas LLC and is a venture of Newport Beach-based Sanborn Theatres Inc. and investors. Excel Realty Holdings of San Diego, which developed and runs the mall, said the dispute is about unpaid rent and $4 million owed to contractors on the theater.
Sales of new autos are forecast to rise this year after a dismal 2009, according to a report from the Newport Beach-based Orange County Auto Dealers Association. The county’s new auto registrations, a barometer of sales, are forecast to rise 13% to 109,000 vehicles this year. In 2009, sales fell 26% to 96,289 vehicles.
