RETAIL: Discount chain 99 Cents Only Stores has agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Ares Management LLC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for about $1.6 billion. Commerce-based 99 Cents Only turned down an earlier $1.34 billion bid from West L.A.’s Leonard Green & Partners. The winning offer was $22 per share, a 32 percent premium to the company’s closing price March 10, the day prior to the public announcement of the Green offer. Chief Executive Eric Schiffer, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Gold and Executive Vice President Howard Gold will remain in their posts.
ACQUISITION: Dole Food Co. has acquired SunnyRidge Farm, a Florida berry producer. SunnyRidge produces blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries near Tampa. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SunnyRidge is “an excellent strategic complement to our existing fresh and frozen berry operations, both of which have previously focused on strawberries,” Dole Chief Executive David DeLorenzo said in a statement.
CAPITOL NEWS: Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed all but one of the bills that the California Chamber of Commerce identified as “job killers” for the 2011 legislative session. Allan Zaremberg, chamber chief executive, commended Brown for the vetoes. “His commitment to ‘do no more harm’ to California’s economy will send a strong message,” Zaremberg said in a statement. Of the five job killers that the Legislature sent to Brown, he signed one, a law that limits the ability of prospective employers to use credit reports to screen job applicants.
SENTENCING: Ezri Namvar, a Brentwood real estate investor convicted of federal wire fraud charges, has received a sentence of seven years in prison. Namvar, 60, was found guilty in May of stealing about $20 million from four clients who had given money to his Namco Financial Exchange for a deferred-tax transaction. However, he is believed to have bilked investors out of $2.5 billion for his real estate portfolio, which collapsed in the 2008 market crash. Many of the investors were fellow Jewish refugees from Iran. The judge described Namvar, who wept at times during the sentencing, as a man who “lost his moral compass.”
LOWER GUIDANCE: Enova Systems Inc., a Torrance developer of electric drive systems and components for vehicles, expects to report third and fourth quarter revenue that is “materially below” what it reported during the first half of this year, the company announced. Its two largest customers are reducing orders due to decisions to slow the conversion of truck fleets to electric motors. Enova blamed the trend on the uncertain economic climate. The company has cumulative losses of $147 million dating back to the 1990s.
RESTAURANTS: DineEquity Inc., the Glendale holding company for the IHOP and Applebee’s restaurant chains, has agreed to sell 17 company-owned Applebee’s locations. The buyer, Apple Investors Group LLC, acquired restaurants in Tennessee, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky and Arkansas. DineEquity said the transaction will reduce its annual lease obligations by $11.3 million and generate net proceeds of $15.9 million. This is the third deal DineEquity has made with Apple Investors, which is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., and already owns and operates Applebee’s in New Mexico and Virginia.
HOSPITALITY: The formerly bankrupt Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens in the Little Tokyo section of downtown Los Angeles has been sold and will be reflagged as a DoubleTree by Hilton. UBS Realty, a division of the Swiss financial services giant, reportedly paid about $45 million earlier this month to buy the hotel from 3D Investment, a Century City firm that has owned it since 2007. The hotel, which has 21 stories and 430 rooms, emerged from bankruptcy in April. The rebranding is expected to take place in the spring after extensive renovations. The hotel is expected to remain open during construction. UBS has selected Rim Hospitality of Newport Beach to manage the property.
SUCCESSION: Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger will step down in March 2015 as part of a larger succession plan that also involves Chairman John Pepper retiring from the board next year. Iger, 60, took over the Burbank entertainment conglomerate in October 2005. Under a new employment contract, he will take the chairman title next March after Pepper steps down, and will hold both the chief executive and chairman jobs until 2015. The company announcement did not mention potential successors, but analysts believe contenders include Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and Tom Staggs, who runs Disney’s theme parks and resorts division.
ENGINEERING: Tetra Tech Inc. has won a contract worth up to $55 million with the Environmental Protection Agency. Under the five-year contract, the Pasadena engineering company will provide research and development support for pollution prevention programs. In particular, Tetra Tech will provide technical support to the Superfund Program and the National Risk Management Research Laboratory.
STOCK: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. has arranged the sale of $134 million in shares owned by activist investor Carl Icahn, who had attempted to take over the company. The Santa Monica TV and film production company, which has its corporate headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, said the 19.2 million shares owned by Icahn affiliates were priced at $7 each. Icahn, who once controlled a 17 percent stake in the company, now owns only 3.1 percent. The secondary offering was part of an agreement that Lions Gate and Icahn reached in late August after he abandoned a hostile takeover. Lions Gate won’t receive any proceeds from the sale, the company said.
APPAREL: Commerce apparel manufacturer and retailer Joe’s Jeans has reported an unexpected loss for its fiscal third quarter on write-downs and lower wholesale revenue. Revenue fell 5 percent to $24.2 million during the quarter. In addition, the company took an impairment charge of $1.1 million related to two retail stores, and a $1.6 million write-down for outdated inventory.
