Business Briefs: Mentor, Aames Investment, Reliance Steel & Aluminum, Sony Pictures Entertainment, LJ International,

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– Mentor Corp.

said it received a $463 million offer from Denmark’s Coloplast A/S to buy its surgical urology, clinical and consumer units. Santa Barbara-based Mentor, which had been exploring “strategic alternatives” for its urology business since Oct. 18, said it would negotiate exclusively with Coloplast during the binding period of the offer. Mentor said the transaction would help it enhance shareholder value as it expands into aesthetic medicine. Coloplast said the purchase would strengthen its position in the U.S.



– Aames Investment Corp.

reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $4.2 million (7 cents per share), compared with a loss of $31.5 million (51 cents) for the same period a year earlier. Interest income for the Los Angeles-based mortgage real estate investment trust rose 246.4 percent to $110.9 million from $32 million.


The company had a provision for loan losses of $8.9 million, versus a provision of $1.9 million a year earlier. Total assets rose to $5.33 billion on Dec. 31 from $2.40 billion one year prior.


The company expects full-year 2006 earnings of 80 cents to $1 per share.



– Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.

said its subsidiary, Precision Strip Inc., completed its acquisition of certain assets and business of Flat Rock Metal Processing L.L.C. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.


Flat Rock’s two facilities in Perrysburg, Ohio, and Eldridge, Iowa will now operate as Precision Strip locations to process and deliver carbon steel, aluminum and stainless steel products on a “toll” basis, processing the metal for a fee without taking ownership of it. The Flat Rock, Mich.-based toll processing company was founded in 2001.



– Sony Pictures Entertainment

and Thought Equity launched the Sony Pictures Collection, a library of stock film footage that features scenes from Sony Pictures’ hit movies, including establishing shots from remote locations, stunts and explosions. Culver City-based Sony Pictures said the partnership marks the single largest motion content investment ever in the stock footage business. The agreement will include film content from Sony Pictures as well as its theatrical brands, including Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Screen Gems. Denver, Colo.-based Thought Equity licenses film and high-definition images to production professionals.



– LJ International Inc.

reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.4 million (9 cents per share), compared with $819,000 (6 cents) for the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the Hong Kong-based jewelry maker with U.S. headquarters in Walnut rose 26 percent to $31.6 million from $25 million in the year-prior period.


The company expects first-quarter earnings of 2 cents per share on revenue of $21 million to $22 million.

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