SCORED: An L.A. judge has ruled Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling had the right to sell the NBA team for $2 billion to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. Her estranged husband, Donald Sterling, tried to block the sale and has two related lawsuits pending. Donald Sterling has been a pariah in the National Basketball Association since April when he was banned for life after a recording of him expressing racist comments was leaked. The NBA is expected to approve Ballmer’s purchase soon.
UMPIRE NEEDED: Time Warner Cable has said it would accept binding arbitration to resolve its dispute with DirecTV and other companies over carrying SportsNet LA, the only channel for local broadcasts of Los Angeles Dodgers games. DirecTV and others have refused to pay for the channel, resulting in many Dodgers fans being unable to watch games at home. Nonetheless, Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Artie Minson told investors they should not assume the company will sign affiliate agreements for SportsNet LA this year.
LAYOFFS: Thousand Oaks biotech giant Amgen Inc. has announced plans to lay off as many as 2,900 employees, roughly 15 percent of its workforce, as the company consolidates its operations and prepares to introduce new drugs to the marketplace. Amgen’s restructuring is expected to involve consolidation at its headquarters and result in closures of facilities in Washington and Colorado, with expansions in Massachusetts and South San Francisco.
PENALTY: AllenCo Energy in Signal Hill has agreed to pay a $99,000 fine for failing to comply with environmental laws at an oil field near USC. The new penalties come in addition to about $700,000 that AllenCo has already agreed to spend on improvements at its L.A. oil field. Those improvements include the development of a spill prevention plan and the installation of filters to prevent the release of hazardous gases into the air. A spokesman said company leaders do not believe the firm is responsible for health problems that have been reported near the oil field, and that inspections have not found unhealthful emissions nor odors there.
ASIA: Walt Disney Co. has restructured its Asian leadership by appointing Paul Candland to the presidency of its Asian division. Candland is a 16-year Disney veteran who most recently oversaw the company’s operations in Japan. In his new role, he will report to Walt Disney International Chairman Andy Bird and be responsible for the company’s activities in China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.
BIG FINE: The Countrywide Financial mortgage lender unit now owned by Bank of America has been ordered to pay $1.3 billion in damages for selling thousands of defective loans. A federal judge in New York issued the decision for the program known as “the Hustle,” which pushed officers of the Calabasas lending company to churn out our mortgages quickly, with limited focus on the borrowers’ ability to repay. The judge said the program was “the vehicle for a brazen fraud by the defendants, driven by a hunger for profits and oblivious to the harms thereby visited, not just on the immediate victims but also on the financial system as a whole.”
CRUISING: Princess Cruises of Santa Clarita has ordered an $800 million cruise ship that is expected to enter service in 2017. Italian shipbuilder Fincanteri has been hired to build the ship, capable of carrying 3,560 passengers, in Trieste. Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp., operates 18 ships traveling to destinations in Europe and the Americas.
CLOSURE: Superior Industries International Inc. of Van Nuys will close down a manufacturing facility in Rogers, Ark., and plans to open a plant in Mexico. The closure will lead to the elimination of 500 jobs and leave the manufacturer of aluminum wheels with a single U.S. factory, also in Arkansas. The company is building a $135 million plant in Chihuahua, Mexico, expected to open next year. It anticipates saving $15 million as a result of shutting down the Rogers facility.
BEAT LAYOFFS: After Apple Inc.’s $3 billion deal to purchase Beats Electronics in Santa Monica, many of the headphone and music company’s employees might be out of work, Bloomberg News reported. The iPhone maker has extended temporary offers to about 200 Beats workers who aren’t guaranteed a long-term role, said a Bloomberg source. Those who might be out are in finance, human resources and other roles where there’s overlap, the person said. Beats has about 700 workers.
EARNINGS: Herbalife reported net income of $120 million for the second quarter, down by about 17 percent from the same period last year. … Real estate services firm CBRE Group Inc. reported net income of more than $105 million, up by 51 percent from last year. … Molina Healthcare Inc. reported net income of $7.8 million, down 70 percent from last year. … Amgen Inc. reported net income of $1.55 billion, up 23 percent from last year. Revenue rose 11 percent to $5.18 billion. … DreamWorks Animation SKG reported a second quarter loss of $15.4 million, compared with net income of $22.2 million last year. Revenue fell 43 percent to $122 million.
