Bob Brisco figures so many consumers are buying their cars with money from mortgage refinancing that he might as well develop a toehold in both areas.

Brisco is chief executive of the online auto retailer CarsDirect Inc., which last week acquired BestRate.com and LoanApp.com. “We find the mortgage businesses to be very complementary with our auto business,” he said. “An increasing number of consumers are looking to the equity in their homes as a less expensive way to finance their auto purchases, and there is overlap in lending institutions.”

He said the new sites will streamline the process of searching online for the best interest rates on a home mortgage. The sites were purchased from Myers Internet Inc. of San Jose.

El Segundo-based CarsDirect, a venture-funded company best known for its two automotive Web sites, CarsDirect.com and Autos.com last year launched an online brokerage service called Loanstore.com. Another of its six Web sites, CheckInterestRates.com, displays the lowest interest rates from a host of lenders.

Privately held CarsDirect received $280 million in venture capital in 1999 and has a number of top-flight investors, including Amazon.com, Idealab, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Liberty Media, Oracle Corp. and Soros Private Equity Partners.

Kate Berry

January Effect?

The stock market sell-off is being blamed partly on corporate insiders, who have been getting rid of shares since 2004 in one of the longest market unloading sprees.

Insiders have enjoyed two years of lucrative stock sales, with $41 billion worth of insider sales to the public in 2004, a 40 percent increase from 2003, according to Thomson Financial.

By comparison, insiders bought just $1.45 billion last year, the second-lowest level since 1996.

In the past 90 days, seven executives at Amgen Inc. have sold a combined $28.1 million, 15 insiders at WellPoint Health Networks Inc. unloaded a combined $93.5 million, six insiders at Occidental Petroleum Corp. sold a combined $34.3 million, and eight executives at KB Home sold a combined $38.3 million, according to Thomson.

Kate Berry

More Brokers

Wells Fargo & Co. has nearly doubled the number of entry-level brokerage positions in Los Angeles as part of an effort to place at least one broker licensed to sell securities and insurance at each branch.

“It isn’t truly just about brokerage, it’s about financial services and focusing on a deeper understanding of the client,” said Richard Byrd, executive vice president and regional managing director at Wells Fargo in Los Angeles.

The impetus to add more licensed brokers to its branches came from Shelley Freeman, a former broker, who joined Wells in 2000 from Lehman Brothers, where she was head of high net-worth services. Freeman is the regional president overseeing the bank’s Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Though the bank plans to expand the number of new brokers elsewhere, Los Angeles is taking the lead initially. Most new hires are recent college graduates who undergo a 16-week broker training course.

Kate Berry

Cherokee Shares Surge

Shares of Cherokee Inc. took a quick jump last Monday on news that the company hired UBS Investment Bank to assist its board in “considering possible strategic alternatives.” The shares edged even higher as the week unfolded.

By Thursday, stock in the Van Nuys-based brand marketing company closed at $35.80, up from $33.39 at the beginning of the week. All told, Cherokee shares have risen by 75 percent over the past year, and returned nearly 92 percent if dividend payments are factored in.

“Strategic alternatives” is a euphemism that is commonly used when a company is considering a sale. The press release did not say whether Cherokee had received any offers from potential buyers, and the company said “no decision has been made” on whether it will go forward with any transaction.

Cherokee owns brand names that it licenses to retailers such as Target Corp. for apparel and other items. Target has the clothing designed and manufactured on its own, and pays Cherokee a fee for using its label.

Cherokee also represents other brand owners that are trying to strike similar licensing deals with large retailers. Last week, Cherokee said it signed a branding deal with the owner of Essence magazine for African American-themed health and beauty products.

Anthony Palazzo

Venture Deals

Venture capital investments in Los Angeles County jumped 35 percent in the fourth quarter to $254.9 million as investment funds plowed money into Internet companies, biotech firms and software manufacturers.

Most of the investments were small ranging from $5 million to $15 million and were largely eclipsed by the $110 million capital infusion that went to online matchmaker eHarmony.com Inc., of Pasadena, according to the quarterly MoneyTree survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.

In the fourth quarter, 31 companies in Los Angeles received venture funding, up from 19 companies that got $189 million in financing a year ago.

Most of the increase was attributed to a rise in late-stage investments as venture capital funds increasingly find markets open to exit strategies, either by being bought out by a private equity firm or by going public.

Kate Berry

Sales Plans Off

Auto paint and body shop operator Earl Scheib Inc. said it has abandoned plans to sell the company or enter into a business combination with another company.

Sherman Oaks-based Earl Scheib ended its relationship with New York investment banking firm Ryan Beck & Co., effective Jan. 13. Ryan Beck had been retained in May 2003 to help the company explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.

“We decided it is in the best interest of stockholders, at present, to continue to focus on the business, which has steadily improved over the past year-and-a-half,” said Earl Scheib General Counsel David Sunkin.

Last year, Earl Scheib had attempted to sell out to private investment firm Elden Holdings Group LLC for $15 million plus $2 million in transaction costs. However, Scheib’s board terminated the letter of intent after Elden missed two deadlines and the process dragged on.

Rebecca Flass