– Hilton Hotels Corp.
sold the Hilton East Brunswick in New Jersey for about $43 million to PHF East Brunswick LLC, an affiliate of Pyramid Hotels Opportunity Venture. The 417-room hotel will still operate under the Beverly Hills-based Hilton name due to the terms of a 20 year franchise agreement.
– Jeantex Group Inc.
, formerly Lexor Holdings, will be trading under a new stock ticker symbol effective July 25 due to its corporate name change. The Los Angeles-based designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of consumer products for the apparel market will trade under the symbol “JNTX” on the over-the-counter market. Its previous symbol “LXRH” will be suspended upon the activation of the new ticker. Jeantex also engaged Integrated Corporate Relations, with offices in L.A. and three other cities, to serve as its investor relations firm.
– Lane Stanton Vance
was acquired today by BlueLinx Holdings Inc. of Atlanta. The City of Industry lumber company, formerly a unit of Hampton Distribution Companies, sells domestic and imported hardwoods, panel products, flooring and molding, recording $62 million in revenue last year. With the acquisition, BlueLinx will operate 11 facilities in California, including six Lance Stanton Vance locations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
– Vivendi Universal SA’s
Polygram recording unit lost an appeals court ruling today in a case alleging it colluded with Time Warner Inc.’s music group to fix prices on tapes and compact discs of concerts by the Three Tenors. The U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Washington, D.C., upheld the findings of the Federal Trade Commission in a 2003 investigation. U.S. antitrust enforcers have sought in recent years to curb recording-industry practices they contend hurt consumers. The companies had sought to curb discounts on the past two concert CDs of Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo to boost the commercial sale of the trio’s third CD. Universal Music Group is based in Santa Monica and New York.
– California United Bank
, which started operations May 23, reported a net loss of $328,873 for the period ended June 30, a figure the Encino-based bank said was in line with other start-up banks. Since it opened, the bank’s total assets grew to $51,243,819 from $33,813,000. It generated $3.2 million in net loans and received $17.6 million in total deposits. The bank, which offers a full range of financial services, completed a $35 million initial stock offering on April 27, resulting in the largest single capitalization of any publicly held state-chartered bank in California.
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About $280 million in outstanding revenue bonds issued to construct the Staples Center were taken off Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings, reflecting the National Hockey League’s ratification Friday of its new collective bargaining agreement with players. The bonds are backed by revenues produced by the arena’s concession agreements, ticket sales and other sources Fitch said were negatively impacted by the cancellation of the NHL’s season. Fitch affirmed the bonds’ “A” rating but did place them on a Negative Rating Outlook, which indicates a possible rating change over a one- to two-year period. Rating Watch Negative indicates a rating may change in a three- to six-month period.
– Southern California Water Co.
received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to recoup $21.3 million in legal expenses related to cleaning up polluted groundwater through a rate surcharge. The company, a subsidiary of San Dimas-based American States Water Co., incurred the costs in litigation filed against Aerojet-General Corp. over contamination of the Sacramento County Groundwater Basin. Southern California Water serves 240,000 customers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and elsewhere in California.
