Orange County’s biggest private companies got bigger in a continued run of revenue and employment gains.
The Business Journal’s annual list is the centerpiece of this Special Report on the top privately held businesses based here—103 of them with $100 million or more in annual revenue. The companies combined for nearly $71 billion in sales in 2013 and currently account for about 48,600 jobs in the county (see list, page 12).
The totals come to a 7% increase in revenue and 2% gain on local jobs compared with a year earlier. The companies combined for about 302,330 jobs overall, a 7.3% increase.
Forty-three companies said their revenues increased, with 26 of them scoring double- or triple-digit gains. Six saw declines in revenue, and one reported a flat year. Business Journal estimates for the balance of the companies reflected a mix of results.
About a third of the companies said they had increases in their OC employment in the past 12 months, while four reported no changes locally. Sixteen made job cuts here, 43 companies were estimated to be about even, and information on employment was unavailable for three companies.
Longer List
This year’s list is longer than last year’s, which had 82 entries. The larger pool is thanks in part to a minimum requirement of $100 million in annual revenue to make the list, versus $140 million a year earlier. Also helping boost the number of listed companies was a more extensive research process and generally better top lines, which appear to reflect the improving economy.
This year’s list would still have been longer than last year’s by 10 had the threshold on annual revenue remained higher.
Little changed at the top ranks, with Newport Beach-based Pacific Mutual Holding Co. topping the list again. Pacific Mutual, which operates through its Pacific Life Insurance Co. subsidiary, had $7.5 billion in revenue in 2013, up 4% from the year prior. The company provides life insurance, annuities, mutual funds and advisory services. It has other business units, such as aircraft leasing and reinsurance.
“Pacific Life’s 2013 results were driven by strong sales throughout the company, positive equity markets, increasing interest rates and investment gains,” said Jim Morris, chairman and chief executive.
He added that the company continues to see the growth that it enjoyed last year.
Pacific Mutual has 2,015 employees in Orange County after hiring 75 in the past year. Companywide, it has 3,042 employees, up about 5% year-over-year.
GSF
Other notable entries:
• Golden State Foods Corp. kept its No. 2 seat, with $6.4 billion in revenue, up 11% from a year earlier. Golden State Foods, or GSF, is a manufacturer and distributor of food products, specializing in the fast-food industry. Its customers include McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell and Starbucks.
GSF Chief Financial Officer Bill Sanderson said the company counts on “some very strong brands that are performing well in their respective market segments” as key drivers of growth, even as the “economic environment remains challenging across all segments of the food service industry.”
GSF’s OC operations employ about 61, up 11%. The local team is part of a companywide total of 4,600 employees around the world, up by 400 from a year ago (see related story on Golden State Foods Foundation, page 1).
• Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC inched up one spot to No. 10 with a total of $1.7 billion in revenue, up 21%. The Irvine-based firm has 801 employees locally, up 12%, out of a companywide total of 37,000.
Advantage Sales & Marketing last week was sold by its previous owner, Apax Partners LLP, to a couple of private equity buyers: Los Angeles-based Leonard Green & Partners LP and CVC Capital Partners in London (see related story, page 1).
A few entries had double-digit jumps in ranking from their respective places on last year’s list, including:
• Irvine-based Super D, a wholesaler and retailer of CDs, DVDs and accessories. It leaped 45 spots to No. 21 with $594.4 million in revenue for the 12 months through March. That’s more than triple its year-earlier total of about $192 million.
Super D’s growth, in part, was attributed to acquisitions. In September it bought Coral Springs, Fla.-based Alliance Entertainment LLC, one of the largest wholesale distributors of CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray titles in the U.S.
Super D’s Orange County workforce decreased from more than 200 to 57, while its companywide employment more than doubled to 584.
• Costa Mesa-based Insight Investments LLC jumped 23 spots to No. 50 with a 30% increase in revenue to $300.8 million. Insight Investments specializes in technology equipment financing, leasing and management services.
President Richard Heard called it a “great year,” saying that the company has “earned additional business from existing customers, as well as added many new customers over the past year.”
The company now has 217 employees in OC, up about 13%.
“The first half of 2014 was an aggressive employee growth period for Insight Investments,” Heard said. “We expect to see additional growth in the Orange County employee base.”
Companies that saw their revenues slip last year included Santa Ana-based mortgage specialist Stearns Lending Inc., whose revenue fell 11% to $437 million. The decrease pushed the company down three spots to No. 33.
Stearns cut its OC employee base by 18% to 367. It has 1,436 workers overall, down about 6%.
• Costa Mesa-based commercial property management firm Donahue Schriber slid nine spots to No. 68 with a 2% drop in revenue to $208 million. The firm has 99 employees here, unchanged from a year ago, and 136 companywide, a 9% growth.
Newcomers
Several homebuilders and construction companies debuted on the list, including:
• No. 49, City Ventures Inc., had the largest percentage jump: 214%. The Newport Beach-based company had $307 million in revenue, versus nearly $98 million in 2012. Its OC operations has 43 employees, up by two from a year ago. It has 94 employees overall.
• Brea-based KPRS Construction Services Inc. landed at No. 77 with $178 million in revenue, a 38% increase. It has hired 30 employees in OC over the past year for a total of 120. It has an office each in Los Angeles and Honolulu that combine for about 10 employees.
• No. 80, Warmington Group of Cos., had a 76% jump in revenue from $93 million to $164 million. The Costa Mesa-based homebuilder has 93 employees here, up about 19%, and 151 overall.
