Beverly Hills
Digital Buy:
Real D, a Beverly Hills-based provider of digital 3-D technology, acquired ColorLink, a supplier of photonics-based solutions headquartered in Boulder, Co. The acquisition includes ColorLink’s campus in Boulder and its manufacturing facilities in Tokyo and Shanghai. Through the deal, Real D will also obtain a broad range of published patents covering optical, liquid crystal and light-based technologies, and ColorLink’s line of 3-D imaging components for entertainment, gaming, industrial, and scientific applications. Leo Bannon, chief executive of ColorLink, will become chief operating officer of Real D. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Malibu
Beach Property:
Westside Estate Agency, a high-end real estate brokerage is opening a Malibu office location in April that will specialize in ultra-exclusive beach and bluff properties. The office, located in the Carbon Beach area, will be the company’s second location and will house 15 agents. Westside opened its first office in Beverly Hills in 1999 and last year brokered sales exceeding $1 billion. The company is owned by Stephen Shapiro and Kurt Rappaport.
West L.A.
Mergers & Acquisitions:
Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, an international investment firm, served as an advisor in several recent mergers and acquisitions including the sale of Encore Group to L.A.-based Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. Houlihan Lokey also represented Quality Mechanical, a privately held mechanical contractor in Las Vegas, in its sale to SPB Partners and Peterson Partners and Management. Earlier this month, Houlihan Lokey advised Mozzarella Fresca Inc. in its sale to the Lactalis American Group Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Group Lactalis of Laval, France. Mozzarella Fresca is a producer of fresh mozzarella, marinated fresh mozzarella, ricotta and mascarpone. Its production facility is in Tipton.
Santa Monica
For the Homeless:
A five-story, 46-room facility called Step Up on Fifth broke ground this month at 1548 Fifth St. in Santa Monica. The 23,000-square foot project will be completed in 2009 and will provide permanent living arrangements for homeless people with chronic mental illness. The project will be funded by donations from the Annenberg Foundation, the George W. Hoaf Family Foundation, the Weingart Foundation and the Ahmanson Foundation.
Culver City
Apartment Sale:
Southern California-based Venture West Funding Inc. arranged an $8.1 million loan on a 60-unit apartment building in Culver City. The 1957 garden apartment building was purchased by Hyde Park Ltd., an affiliate of Weintraub Financial Services Inc. The Lenawee Avenue complex has one, two and three-bedroom units
Rancho Palos Verdes
Resort Construction:
Lowe Enterprises broke ground on $450 million Mediterranean-style resort called Terranea Resort overlooking the ocean in Rancho Palos Verdes. Ninety percent of the resort’s 582 rooms will offer ocean views. The 102-acre resort’s other amenities will include a 25,000-square foot spa with fitness facilities, three swimming pools and casual and fine dining options, including a cliff-side bar. The resort contains 34 suites, including a 1,800-square foot presidential suite, as well as a number of bungalows, casitas, and villas that are being offered for sale. The resort will be built with 123,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space including an 18,000-square-foot ballroom. Terranea has reserved 14 acres for habitat space and will include public parks and trails and a nine-hole golf course. The resort is on the site of the former Marineland oceanarium which closed in 1987. The land has been unoccupied since.
Studio City
Contract Renewed:
Crown Media Holdings Inc. renewed its contract with EchoStar Communications Corp. The multi-year agreement will provide for the continued distribution of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel on EchoStar’s Dish Network. The channels will be repositioned in the network’s line-up providing for a total distribution of over 80 million subscribers for Hallmark Channel, up from 76.2 million. Hallmark Movie Channel is expected to have 5 million subscribers.
Van Nuys
License Extended:
Cherokee Inc., a marketer, licensor and manager of a variety of brands, recently renewed its contract with Target Corp. Target chose to extend the agreement to carry Cherokee products through January 2009. Some of Cherokee’s premier clients include Target Stores, TJX Cos., Mervyn’s, Tesco and Grupo Aviara.
Thousand Oaks
Technology Acquisition:
Teledyne Technologies Inc., a producer of flight data products and missile defense systems, announced plans to purchase D.G. O’Brien, a New Hampshire-based company that makes undersea equipment used by the military and the energy industry. D.G. O’Brien makes underwater electrical cables and recorded sales of $26.2 million for the fiscal year that ended in September 2006. Last year, Teledyne Technologies purchased Ocean Design Inc. another company in the marine instrumentation market.
Downtown
Panel Selected:
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards announced the 12 judges who will lead the panel to select the Los Angeles regional award finalists and winners. The judges are Teymour Boutros-Ghali, the managing partner of Monitor Ventures; Mel Clark Jr., the managing director of Northern Trust; Errol Ginsberg, the chief executive of Ixia; Mark Hardy, partner at Aurora Capital Group; Brad Jones, managing director of Redpoint Ventures; Eve Kurtin, managing director of Pacific Venture Group; and J. Christopher Lewis, a general partner of Riordan Lewis & Haden; Linda Livingstone, dean of the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University; Tim McQuay, managing director of A.G. Edwards; Kamran Pourzanjani, chief executive of PriceGrabber.com; Melissa Orr, president of Campaigners; and Julie Schoenfeld, chief executive of OEwaves. The Entrepreneur of the Year Awards is in its 21st year and recognizes leaders who are building global businesses and have excelled in the areas of innovation and financial performance, as well as a personal commitment to his or her business and business communities.
Agreement Terminated:
TMSF Holdings Inc., a financial holding company engaged in nationwide mortgage banking, announced that it has terminated an agreement to acquire certain assets of the wholesale division of Central Pacific Mortgage, based in Folsom. TMSF Holdings said it backed out due to current adverse market conditions and that the acquisition wasn’t in the best interest of TMSF shareholders.
Pasadena
Web Previews:
Snap.com, a Web search engine operated by Perfect Market Technologies Inc., announced that its Snap Preview Anywhere service is now available to all members of the Xanga.com Weblog community. Snap Preview Anywhere delivers instant Web site previews. By rolling over any link on a site containing the service, users instantly see a floating window with a visual preview of the corresponding Web page. The service, introduced in November, has been used for more than 350 million previews on more than 700,000 websites.
Lake Arrowhead
Renovations Completed:
Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa completed a $17 million renovation this month. Guest rooms, meeting rooms and public spaces, including a restaurant and bar, were redesigned in mountain lodge style. An 11,000-square-foot full service spa called Spa of the Pines was constructed. The resort, recently purchased by Fulton Village Green Investors, has been open since 1982. It is the largest luxury hotel in the Southern California mountain community. Interiors were designed by Intra-Spec, a Marina Del Rey design firm. The property is managed by Gemstone Resorts International.
