PORT CONTRACT: A clerical worker union that last year shut down L.A. port terminals for eight days has ratified a contract agreement with employers at the port, quelling worries about the possibility of another strike. Negotiators for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit and employers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach said that union bargaining units agreed to ratify terms agreed to Dec. 4. That reversed the clerks’ stance last month when the union voted down the agreement.
AEG SALE: Entertainment giant AEG is considering the second round of bids for its properties, which include the Staples Center and Los Angeles Kings. Two bids reportedly have been submitted and both came in well below the company’s desired sale price of $10 billion. The reported second round bidders are New York financial services firm and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Guggenheim Partners and Qatar Sports Investment, which is partnering with Santa Monica real estate investment firm Colony Capital. Another group also reported to be bidding includes supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, biomedical entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong and Goldman Sachs.
TIMES SALE: Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co. reportedly has hired advisers at JPMorgan Chase and Evercore Partners to market its newspaper properties, which also include the Chicago Tribune. The sale is expected to kick off in the next several weeks, with Wall Street Journal owner News Corp. among potential bidders. JPMorgan was a major lender in Sam Zell’s 2007 leveraged buyout of Tribune.
SCALING BACK: Entertainment trade publication Variety will eliminate its daily print edition this month and has overhauled its top editorial staff. Daily Variety will halt publication March 18, but the weekly edition will remain in print. Variety, which Penske Media bought last year for $25 million, is replacing the current editor with three co-editors. The publication also is eliminating its paywall, which requires a subscription for online access.
FEE WAIVER: The Los Angeles City Council has voted to waive all fees for TV pilots and first-year series filmed in the city. If Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signs the ordinance, the fees would be waived for pilots when a substantial portion of filming is done in Los Angeles. First-year filming fees would only be waived if the series goes into a second year. Councilman Eric Garcetti introduced the motion last year in an attempt to slow the trend of pilot television production leaving the city. Waiving the fees for pilot productions could cost the city at least $230,000 a year.
HARBOR PROJECT: The Los Angeles Harbor Commission has voted to move forward with a project to revitalize the San Pedro waterfront, despite objections from several developers who lost out on a piece of the deal. Commissioners directed Port of L.A. staff to negotiate exclusively with a group called the LA Waterfront Alliance on a project to redevelop the 30-acre Ports O’Call Village. The joint proposal by L.A.-based Ratkovich Co. and San Pedro-based Jerico Development beat seven competing visions.
DOLE CEO: David Murdock has taken back the chief executive’s job at Dole Food Co. as the fruit-and-vegetable producer prepares to complete the sale of its packaged foods and Asian fruit operation to a Japanese conglomerate. Murdock, who served as CEO in the past and still controls 40 percent of the Westlake Village company, replaces David DeLorenzo. DeLorenzo and Joseph Tesoriero, former chief financial officer, will leave Dole for Itochu Corp. as part of the $1.68 billion deal.
NEW HOTEL: Work is beginning on a new boutique hotel on the edge of King Harbor as part of Redondo Beach’s effort to revitalize its waterfront. The hotel will be on the site of a former Red Onion restaurant on North Harbor Drive. Manhattan Beach restaurateur and hotelier Michael Zislis won approval from the city to build the 54-room Shade Hotel Redondo Beach on the site.
PATIENT DEATH: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had directed Amgen Inc. to stop pediatric studies of one of its drugs after 14-year-old patient died. The FDA said it doesn’t know yet whether Sensipar – which treats a condition that can cause brittle bones, abdominal pain and kidney stones – was a factor in the teen’s death, but wanted the clinical trials stopped until that could be determined. Sensipar, which earned FDA approval for adult use in 2007, is approved to reduce over-activity of the parathyroid gland as a result of chronic kidney disease and parathyroid cancer. Amgen reported sales of $950 million for the drug last year.
VIDDY LAYOFFS: Venice startup Viddy announced it was laying off more than a dozen employees, a little more than a third of its total workforce. It said in a release that the layoffs were part of a strategy to “streamline costs” but maintained that it still had a “strong balance sheet.” The cuts follow last month’s departure of Chief Executive Brett O’Brien, who continues to serve on its board.
