TRI-CITIES
GLENDALE
On the Menu: Chi Dynasty, a nearly 30-year-old restaurant minichain has opened a location at Glendale’s Americana at Brand retail center. The new restaurant, at 769 Americana Way, is the chain’s third after restaurants in Studio City and the Hollywood area.
PASADENA
Down Under: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., a Pasadena provider of technical and construction services, has acquired Unique World, an information technology company based in Sydney, Australia. Jacobs said the move is in line with its strategy to grow key markets outside of the United States. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
ENCINO
Pumped Up: Equinox Holdings LLC, a New York-based operator of upscale gym chains, has signed a lease with West L.A.’s Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. to open a location at Encino’s First Financial Plaza, at Venture and Balboa boulevards. Hudson reported that the 20-year lease for the 29,898-square-foot space will commence at the end of next year. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Plugged In: Panache, an Encino provider of digital video ad services, has been acquired by 24/7 Real Media Inc., a New York marketing technology company owned by London’s WPP PLC. Panache’s ad services will be folded into 24/7’s ad management platform.
VAN NUYS
Revved Up: Keyes European LLC, a Mercedes-Benz auto dealership on auto row in Van Nuys, has opened an expanded $35 million lot. The 252,000-square-foot dealership, which opened Dec. 5, is about four times the previous size of the lot at 5400 Van Nuys Blvd.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD
Branching Out: IPC the Hospitalist Co. Inc., a North Hollywood physician group, has expanded into the Northwest with the acquisition of Hospitalist Specialists PLLC, a Spokane, Wash.-based operator of practices in Spokane and Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
WESTSIDE
BALDWIN HILLS
Funding Round: SteelHouse, a Baldwin Hills-based e-commerce marketing company, has closed a Series B funding round that raised $6.3 million. Investors included New York’s Greycroft Partners LLC and Santa Barbara’s Rincon Venture Partners. SteelHouse’s behavioral commerce platform lets companies target offers based on shoppers’ buying patterns.
WESTWOOD
Hooked Up: Boingo Wireless Inc., a Westwood-based provider of Wi-Fi access across the globe, has been named Best Wi-Fi Service by Global Traveler magazine’s readership. More than 36,000 readers responded to the survey of frequent business and luxury travelers. Boingo also won award in 2009.
CORRECTIONS
The article headlined “Virtually There” in the Dec. 5 issue misstated the relationship between StarCast Auditions and four performing arts schools. The company has not received endorsements from the schools, but is offering students of those schools free access to its site on a trial basis.
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In the L.A. Business Seen section in the Dec. 5 issue, Alfred Edmund Lord III and Lina Parrillo’s names were incorrect. Also, Parrillo is co-owner of Pasquale Shoe Repair and Q by Pasquale with her husband, Pasquale Fabrizio. She should have been identified as the mother of Marco and Ricky Fabrizio.
