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As 2005 ended, some billion-dollar deals went down in L.A.


When it came to deals in Los Angeles, 2005 went out with a bang.

December saw five mergers and acquisitions that each topped $1 billion in value. Since this region is dominated by middle-market companies, only one or two billion-dollar deals is typical. Three more mergers each topped $500 million.

"This is absolutely the strongest merger and acquisition environment since the late 1990s," said Lloyd Greif, president and chief executive of Greif & Co., an L.A.-based investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions.

In all, $19.6 billion traded hands as a result of transactions in December--more than double the previous month, according to Goldsmith Agio AGIO, aggio. This term is used to denote the difference of price between the value of bank notes and nominal money, and the coin of the country. Encyc.  Helms, a Minneapolis-based investment banking firm that compiled the data for the Business Journal. And that figure only counts reported values; many deals did not report the value.

A number of factors converged to fuel this spate of mergers and acquisitions, including low interest rates, a strong real estate market, huge amounts of cash in private equity funds and a number of firms' heightened desire to grow through strategic acquisitions.

Of course, December is traditionally a busy month as investment bankers rush to close deals in order to claim year-end bonuses.

In recent years, private equity firms were making the deals. December's deals were made by companies looking to grow into dominant players or enter new markets. With revenues swelled by increased consumer spending, and after years of increasing productivity and cost containment measures, major public companies have more cash on hand now than at any time in the past 50 years, Greif said. Instead of returning the cash to shareholders or using it to hire more workers or make capital improvements, many companies are using it to finance mergers and acquisitions, he said.

The private equity firms aren't entirely out of the picture; they provided behind-the-scenes funds for several of these corporate megadeals.

A fairly strong economy and interest rates that, while rising, are still lower than historical norms, provided a positive climate for the deal-making.

"The steadily rising interest rates are actually helping to boost these deals. They signal steady economic growth lies ahead. If interest rates were still at record lows, it would mean a slow economy, and that's not a good backdrop for acquisitions," said Robin Love, vice president with Barrington Associates, a Los Angeles-based investment bank.

Also boosting local mergers and acquisitions has been the hot real estate market. That was especially true for L.A.-based Arden Realty Inc., which decided to sell 13 properties in its commercial real estate portfolio to Chicago-based Trizec Properties Inc. for $1.6 billion and then sell the remainder of its 18.5-million-square-foot portfolio to Stamford, Conn.-based General Electric Co.'s real estate unit for $3.2 billion.

For Arden chairman Richard Ziman, the sales represented a chance to cash out after several spectacular years of growth in the Southern California real estate market. GE, meanwhile, gains a foothold in the region.

"You can't replicate a hot real estate market, you have to buy into it," said Robin Love, vice president with Barrington Associates, an L.A.-hased investment banking firm.

On the heels of the Arden deal carne Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corp.'s decision to huy the lodging business of its international affiliate, Hilton Group plc for $5.7 billion.

The Hilton deal represents two major players in the lodging industry trying to become even more of a worldwide giant.

"In this era of global competition, the bigger a company can become on the worldwide stage, the better," Greif said.

Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc.'s plan to purchase Fremont-based biotech firm Abgenix Inc. for $2.2 billion in cash was driven by internal dynamics.

Amgen had been trying to develop other drugs to replace its blockbuster Epogen as its patents on the treatment for cancer-related anemia began to expire. To that end, Amgen has been providing capital and expertise to Abgenix for the experimental drug panitumumab, which slows the growth of tumors, and finally decided to bring Abgenix in house with its $2.2 billion purchase offer.

The last of the billion-dollar deals in December was the decision by DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch)
SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios)
SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code)
SKG Smith and Kraus Global
 principals Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to sell their Glendale-based studio to Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures unit for $1.6 billion in cash and debt. Paramount plans to pay part of the cost by selling off DreamWorks' live-action film library.

Paramount's bid for DreamWorks caught nearly everyone off guard, since DreamWorks had been in discussions with GE's NBC Universal unit for several months. Those discussions were taking place against a larger backdrop of studios trying to merge with major media companies.

Below this top tier of billion-dollar deals were several buyouts among tech companies and financial institutions. On the tech front were two major buyouts: Redwood City's Electronic Arts Corp.'s $680 million deal for L.A.-based mobile game maker Jamdat Mobile Inc. and Britain's GUS GUS Gemeinschaft Unabhängiger Staaten (German: CIS)
GUS Gravis Ultrasound
GUS Great Universal Stores
GUS Grown Up Soda
GUS Giornalisti Uffici Stampa (Italian)
GUS Guide to the Use of Standards
 plc's Experian unit's $485 million deal to buy Culver City-based PriceGrabber.com, an online comparison shopping company.

On the banking side, Rancho Santa Fe-based First Community Bancorp reached a deal to buy Glendora-based Foothill Independent Bancorp for $238 million. San Marino-based EastWest Bancorp reached a deal to buy Monterey Park-based Standard Savings Bank for $204 million. The latter deal could signal the emergence of a major Southern California financial institution serving the Asian community.

RELATED ARTICLE: M&A report--December 2005

BUSINESS SERVICES

Seller: Angelica Corp.: NYSE NYSE

See: New York Stock Exchange
:AGL (programming) AGL - (Atelier de Genie Logiciel) French for IPSE.  (MO) sold Long Beach Operations (Long Beach)

Business: Textile rental and linen management services

Buyer: American Textite Maintenance Company (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: The TCW TCW Total Carat Weight
TCW Temporal Cold War (Star Trek Enterprise)
TCW Troop Carrier Wing
TCW Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling
TCW Tasty Coma Wife (Scrubs episode) 
 Group (Los Angeles), Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (Ganada), and Lightyear Capital (New York) sold Collegiate Funding Services: NasdaqNM:CFSI CFSI Congressional Fire Services Institute
CFSI Center for Financial Services Innovation
CFSI Children's Film Society of India
CFSI Comité Français de La Semoulerie Industrielle (French: French Committee of the Semolina Industry; Paris, France) 
 (VA)

Business: Services education loans

Buyer: JP Morgan Chase & Co.: NYSE:JPM JPM J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. (stock symbol)
JPM Juan Pablo Montoya (formula 1 driver)
JPM Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Malaysia)
JPM Journal of Property Management
 (New York)

Deal Value: $663 million

Seller: Cogient Corp. (Ganada) sold AssistMed Canada (Canada)

Business: Internet-based medical practice office management

Buyer: AssistMed (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: $1.3 million

Seller: Creative Domain (Hollywood)

Business: Provides motion pictures and trailers

Buyer: Trailer Park (Hollywood)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Crystal Clear Audio & Video (Valencia), Al-ter Computers (Valencia) and Cuda Electronics (Valencia)

Business: Provides IT services to businesses, homeowners and homebuilders

Buyer: Access Tech (Valencia)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: DI7 Holdings Plc (U.K.) sold DTZ DTZ Division Tactical Zone  Queensland (Australia)

Business: Provides mortgage valuation services

Buyer: CB Richard Ellis CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. NYSE: CBG is a multinational real estate corporation currently based in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.. On December 20, 2006, the corporation, also known as CBRE, completed acquisition of Trammell Crow Co. in a transaction valued at $2.  Group (Los Angles)

Deal Value: HD

Seller: DZN DZN Deutsches Zahnarzt Netz (German) , The Design Group (Los Angeles)

Business: Provides graphic design services

Buyer: AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) A machine intelligence that resembles that of a human being. Considered impossible by many, most artificial intelligence (AI) research, projects and products deal with specific applications such as industrial robots, playing chess,  Media Packaoino (IL), a subsidiary of MeadWestco Corp.: NYSE:MWV MWV MeadWestVaco Corp (stock symbol)
MWV Mineralölwirtschaftsverband eV
mWv Mit Wirkung Vom (German: With Effect Of)
MWV MovieWorks File (file extension) 
 (CT)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: EDAW EDAW Eight Days A Week (Beatles song)
EDAW Eckbo, Dean, Austin & Williams (New York, NY) 
 (San Francisco)

Business: Offers urban design and planning services Buyer: AECOM AECOM Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (Bronx, NY)
AECOM Architectural and Engineering Company
 Technology Corporation (Los Angeles) Deal Value: ND

Seller: Foothill Independent Bancorp: NasdaqNM:FOOT (Glendora)

Business: Offers commercial banking services

Buyer: First Community Bancorp (CA): NasdaqNM:FCBP FCBP Females of Childbearing Potential  (Rancho Santa Fe)

Deal Value: $238 million

Seller: Global Home Loans Ltd. (U.K.)

Business: Provides mortgage processing and loan services

Buyer: Countrywide Financial Corp.: NYSE:CFC CFC

See: Controlled foreign corporation
 (Calabasas)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Moore Clayton and Company (Malibu)

Business: Provides financial advisory services

Buyer: IFEX IFEX International Freedom of Expression Exchange
IFEX International Forum of Export & Marketing Executives in the Elevator Industry (International Association of Elevator Engineers; UK) 
 Innovation Finance and Equity

Exchange NV: DB:IFQ1 (Netherlands)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Nation's CareLink (Minneapolis)

Business: Provides claims services for insurance carriers

Buyer: Long Term Care Group (Long Beach)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Rush Computer Rentals (CT)

Business: Operates as a computer rental company

Buyer: Electro Rent Corp.: NasdaqNM:ELRC ELRC East London River Crossing (UK)  (Van Nuys)

Deal Value: $9.5 million

Seller: Standard Savings Bank (Monterey Park)

Business: Provides banking services

Buyer: East West Bancorp: NasdaqNM:EWBC (San Marino)

Deal Value: $204 million

Seller: Western State Bank (Duarte)

Business: Provides banking services

Buyer: Inland Community Bank: OTC OTC

See: Over-the-counter.


OTC

See over-the-counter market (OTC).
8B:ICMM ICMM International Council on Mining and Metals
ICMM Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid
ICMM International Congress of Maritime Museums
ICMM Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics
ICMM Internet Commerce Market Model
 (Ontario)

Deal Value: $13 million

CONSUMER

Seller: Band Pro Film & Video (Burbank) sold Petrol Bags Business (Israel)

Business: Provides bags for video equipment

Buyer: Vitec Group Plc (U.K.)

Deal Value: $2 million

Seller: Corral West Ranchwear (WY)

Business: Operates a western wear retail chain

Buyer: Sage Capital Partners (Los Angles)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Gemstar-TV Guide International Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. is a media company that licenses interactive program guide technology to multichannel operators, such as cable and satellite television providers, and consumer electronics manufacturers, video recorder scheduling code under brands such as VCR : NasdaqNM:GMST GMST Greenwich Mean Sidereal Time
GMST General Military Subjects Test
GMST Genov Modified Stroop Test
 (Los Angeles) sold SkyMall (Phoenix)

Business: Specialty catalog retailer

Buyer: Spire Capital Partners (New York), The Greenspun Media Group Greenspun Media Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Greenspun Corporation. History
On May 21st, 1950, Hank Greenspun published the first edition of the Las Vegas Free Press, later to become the Las Vegas Sun.
 (Henderson, NV), ZelnickMedia (New York)

Deal Value: $59 million

Seller: Gores Technology Group (Los Angeles) solo Micro Warehouse France (France)

Business: Distributes computer and networking products

Buyer: Wstore Europe S.A. (France)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Levitz Home Furnishings (NY)

Business: Retails furniture

Buyer: Prentice Capital Management (Woodland Hills)

Deal Value: $92.3 million

Seller: Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers (Torrance)

Business: Operates as appliance store

Buyer: Best Buy Co.: NYSE:BBY (Richfield, MN)

Deal Value: $410 million

Seller: PriceGrabber.com (Culver City)

Business: Provides online information to consumer:

Buyer: Experian Limited (U.K.)

Deal Value: $485 million

Seller: Quartermaster (Gerritos)

Business: Retails non-weapons goods to law enforcement

Buyer: Parallel Investment Partners (Dallas)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Transamerican Auto Parts Co (Compton)

Business: Markets parts and accessories for off-road vehicles

Buyer: Bear Stearns Merchant Banking (New York) Deal Value: ND

Seller: Yves Castaldi Corporation (Los Angeles)

Business: Designer of apparel

Buyer: Jeantex Group: OTCPK:JNTX.B (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: $0.65 million

ENERGY

Seller: Equitable Resources: NYSE:EQT (Pittsburgh, PA) sold NORESCO (MA)

Business: Operates as an energy service company

Buyer: GFI Energy Ventures (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: $82 million

Seller: Global Oil Production (Wilmington), Wilmington Management (Wilmington) sold North Wilmington Oil Field The Wilmington Oil Field is a large petroleum field in Los Angeles County in southern California in the United States. Discovered in 1932, it is the third largest oil field ever found in the United States.  (Wilmington)

Business: Oil and gas production services

Buyer: Warren Resources: NasdaqNM:WRES (New York)

Deal Value: $23 million

Seller: Granite Energy (Irving)

Business: Oil and natural gas development services

Buyer: W-Collect: OTC:WCLT.PK (Beverly Hills)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Transworld Oil & Gas Ltd.: OTCPK:TWOG TWOG The Word of God
TWOG The Wrath of God
 (Houston)

Business: Manages oil and natural gas properties

Buyer: BDW Holdings Ltd. (Culver City)

Deal Value: ND

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Seller: Fairmont Capital (Yorba Linda), Windjammer Capital Investors (Newport Beacb) sold Shari's Management Corporation (OR)

Business: Owns and operates a chain of restaurants

Buyer: CapitalSource: NYSE:CSE (Certified Systems Engineer) See Microsoft certification.  (MD), The Carlyle Group (Washington, D.C.), Circle Peak Capital (New York), Falcon Investment Advisors (MA), Magnetar Capital (IL), Sankaty Advisors (Boston, MA), Wells Fargo Footbill (Santa Monica)

Deal Value: $80 million

Seller: Nestle USA (Glendale) sold Nestle USA, Ortega Food Service Cbeese Sauce Assets (PA)

Business: Manufactures snack products

Buyer: B&G Foods (NJ)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Nutro Products (City of Industry)

Business: Mfg and sell pet food

Buyer: Bain Capital (Boston)

Deal Value: ND

HEALTH CARE

Seller: AstraZeneca: LSE LSE - Language Sensitive Editor :AZN (U.K.), Context Capital Management (San Diego), CooperNeff Advisors (PA), Deutsche Bank Securities (New York), DKR Capital (CT), Duke Endowment (NC), JP Morgan Securities (New York), National Bank of Canada This article is about a commercial bank. For Canada's central bank, see Bank of Canada.

National Bank of Canada (Banque Nationale du Canada) TSX: NA is the sixth largest bank in Canada, and so is one of the Big Six banks.
: TSX:NA (Canada), Nuveen Asset Management (Chicago), Nuveen Preferred & Convertible Income Fund: NYSE:JPC (Chicago), Pacific Assets Management (Los Angeles), SG Americas Securities (New York), Syngenta AG: VIRTX:SYNN (Switzerland), UBS Limited (U.K.), Van Kampen Asset Management (IL), Van Kampen Harbor Fund (IL) sold Abgenix: NasdaqNM:ABGX (Fremont) Business: Develops human therapeutic antibodies Buyer: Amgen: NasdaqNM:AMGN (Thousand Oaks) Deal Value: $2.2 billion

Seller: Capital Research and Management (Los Angeles), Pequot Capital Management (CT), Pequot Ventures (New York) sold BriteSmile's Associated Center Nasdaq:BSML BSML Bioinformatic Sequence Markup Language  (Walnut Creek)

Business: Mfgs teeth whitening technology Buyer: Discus Dental (Culver City)

Deal Value: $35 million (plus cash and unspecified liabilities)

Seller: META Associates (KY)

Business: Provides healthcare program management

Buyer: Parsons Corp. (Pasadena)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: NeoStem (Agoura Hills)

Business: Offers stem cell banking services

Buyer: Phase III Medical: OTCBB OTCBB

See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB).
:PHSM (Melville, NY) Deal Value: ND

Seller: PracticeXpert: OTCBB:PXPT (Culver City) sold PracticeXpert, Transcription Business Unit (Culver City)

Business: Provides medical transcription services

Buyer: Transcend Services: NasdaqSC:TRCR TRCR Transcend Services, Inc. (stock symbol)
TRCR Total Recordable Case Rate
TRCR Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies (horseback trips)
TRCR Three Rivers Competition Riders (off-road riding) 
 (Atlanta)

Deal Value: $0.54 million

Seller: Priority Pharmacy (San Diego)

Business: Offers drug delivery services

Buyer: Medicine Made Easy (Torrance)

Deal Value: $7.6 million

Seller: SageWalk, The Wilderness School (OR)

Business: Therapeutic wilderness program for teens

Buyer: Aspen Education Group Aspen Education Group is an organization based in Cerritos, California, that operates a variety of therapeutic treatment programs for troubled adolescents, including wilderness therapy programs, residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, and weight loss programs.  (Cerritos) Deal Value: ND

Seller: Savacor (Los Angeles)

Business: Mfgs implantable medical devices

Buyer: St. Jude Medical St. Jude Medical, Inc. NYSE: STJ is a $2.9 billion global cardiovascular device company, with headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. The company sells products in more than 100 countries and has over 20 operations and manufacturing facilities worldwide. : NYSE:STJ (MN)

Deal Value: $50 million

INDUSTRIAL

Seller: BASF BASF Bar Association of San Francisco (since 1872; San Francisco, California)
BASF Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (German chemical products company)
BASF Builders Association of South Florida
 Agro B.V.: NYSE:BF (Switzerland) sold BASF Agro B.V., Difenzoquat, Herbicide Product Line (Switzerland)

Business: Production of crop protection products

Buyer: AMVAC Chemical Corp. (Los Angeles) Deal Value: ND

Seller: Coast Distribution System: AMEX AMEX

See: American Stock Exchange
:CRV (Morgan Hill)

Business: Supplies parts for recreational vehicles and boats

Buyer: Bell Industries: AMEX:BI (El Segundo) Deal Value: $53 million

Seller: Cortec Group (New York), Lexington Partners (New York), SunTrust Equity Partners (Atlanta), Wachovia Capital Partners (Charlotte) sold AXIA Incorporated (Houston)

Business: Produces construction tools and merchandise

Buyer: Aurora Capital Group (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: $287 million

Seller: Holler Technologies Holding AG: OTCPK:HOTK (Calabasas) sold Hoelter Technologies Holding, Assets (Calabasas)

Business: Produces and sells air and water filtration products

Buyer: Newfield Energy Corp. (NV)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Industrial Container Services (Montebello)

Business: Mfgs plastic industrial containers and drums

Buyer: Wingate Partners (Dallas)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: J & R Industries (Wilmington)

Business: Mfgs polysulfide pol·y·sul·fide  
n.
A sulfide compound containing at least two sulfur atoms per molecule.
 sealants and potting compounds

Buyer: Royal Adhesives & Sealants (IN)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Morwear Manufacturing (Alhambra)

Business: Mfgs paint and decorative coatings

Buyer: Diversified Coatings (Los Angeles) Deal Value: $52 million

Seller: Murray Intzernational Metals Ltd. (Newbrige)

Business: Distributes steel pipes and components

Buyer: Jefferies Capital Partners (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: $173 million

Seller: Nordenia International AG (Germany)

Business: Mfgs flexible packaging products

Buyer: Oaktree Capital Management Oaktree Capital Management LLC is a US investment management corporation which operates a number of investment entities commonly known as hedge funds of approximately $40 Billion.  (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Northrop Grumman Corp.: NYSE:NOC (Los Angeles) sold Litton Interconnect Technologies Assembly Business (MO)

Business: Mfgs double-sided and multilayer circuit boards

Buyer: Simclar Group Limited (U.K.)

Deal Value: $28 million

Seller: Siemens AG: DB:SIE (Germany) sold the Siemens, Ultrasound Division Manufacturing Line in Canoga Park (Canoga Park)

Business: Mfgs electrical connections and components

Buyer: 3M Co.: NYSE:MMM MMM Myeloid metaplasia with myelofibrosis, see there  (MN)

Deal Value: $23 million

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Seller: Rank Group plc: LSE:RNK (U.K) sold Deluxe Laboratories (Hollywood)

Business: Provides film processing and creative services

Buyer: MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings (New York)

Deal Value: $750 million

Seller: The Watt Disney Co. (Burbank) sold WHTS-FM (IA)

Business: Radio station

Buyer: Educational Media Foundation (Rocklin, CA)

Deal Value: $4 million

Seller: Vulcan Capital (Seattle), Ziff Brothers Investments (New York) sold DreamWorks SKG Inc. (Glendale)

Business: Produces live action motion pictures Buyer: Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom (New York)

Deal Value: $1.6 billion (plus assumption of debt)

Seller: World Arena Rugby Union (Burbank)

Business: Manage indoor world arena rugby league

Buyer: Zuma Beach Entertainment: OTCPK:ZMBC (Calabasas)

Deal Value: ND

REAL ESTATE

Seller: Arden Realty: NYSE:ARI ARI Acute respiratory infection, see there  (Los Angeles)

Business: Self-managed real estate investment trust

Buyer: GE Commercial Finance Real Estate (CT)

Deal Value: $3.2 billion

Seller: GE Commercial Finance Real Estate (CT) selling 13 Office Properties (San Diego, Los Angeles)

Business: Commercial real estate

Buyer: Trizec Properties: NYSE:TRZ (Chicago)

Deal Value: $1.6 billion

Seller: Hilton Group plc: LSE:HG (U.K.) sold Hilton Group plc., Lodging Business (U.K.)

Business: Operates a chain of hotels

Buyer: Hilton Hotels Corp.: NYSE:HLT HLT

See: Highly leveraged transaction
 (Beverly Hills)

Deal Value: $5.7 billion

Seller: Hilton Hotels Corp.: NYSE:HLT (Beverly Hills) sold Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center (TX)

Business: Operates a hotel and conference center

Buyer: Somera Capital Management (Santa Barbara)

Deal Value: $66 million

Seller: Hilton Hotels Corp.: NYSE:HLT (Beverly Hills) sold Hilton Portland & Executive Tower (Portland)

Business: Operates a hotel and corporate office property

Buyer: CHIEF Portland Hotel (Portland)

Deal Value: $84 million

Seller: Stratus Services Group: OTCBB:SSVG (NJ) sold Three Staffing Offices (Culver City, Lawndale, Orange)

Business: Office property

Buyer: AccountAbilities: OTCPK:ACTB ACTB Actin, Beta
ACTB Aviation Combat Test Branch (Marine Corps Operational Test & Evaluation Activity) 
 (MD) Deal Value: $23 million

Seller: Union Development Company (Cerritos)

Business: Operates real estate development

Buyer: Barker Pacific Group (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: $100 million

Seller: Westridge Executive Plaza (Valencia)

Business: Office property

Buyer: CORE Realty Holdings (Newport Beach)

Deal Value: $23 million

TECHNOLOGY

Seller: Apax Partners Worldwide (U.K.), Benchmark Capital (Menlo Park), QUALCOMM Ventures (San Diego), Sprint Nextel Corp.: NYSE:S (VA) sold

JAMDAT Mobile: NasdaqNM:JMDT (Los Angeles) Business: Publishes wireless entertainment applications

Buyer: Electronic Arts: NasdaqNM:ERTS ERTS Electronic Arts, Inc. (stock symbol)
ERTS Earth Resources Technology Satellite (US NASA)
ERTS Embedded Real Time Systems
ERTS Enhanced Remote Transit Shed
 (Redwood City)

Deal Value: $680 million

Seller: Dynafund Ventures (Torrance), Industry Ventures (MA), Koch Genesis (KS), Koch Industries (KS), The Argentum Group (New York), Trinity Ventures, Ltd (Menlo Park) sold Cyclone Commerce (Scottsdale)

Business: Develops business software the Internet

Buyer: Axway Software (France)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Futura (AR)

Business: Operates as an Internet service provider Internet service provider (ISP)

Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password.


Buyer: IVI Communications: OTCBB:IVCM IVCM Integrated Value Chain Model
IVCM Master Chief Investigator (USCG Rating) 
 (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Gemini Investors (MA), Korn/Ferry International NYSE:KFY (Los Angeles) sold Webhire: OTCPK:HIRE (MA)

Business: Provides Internet based recruitment management solutions

Buyer: Kenexa Technology (PA)

Deal Value: $34 million

Seller: Kinderhook Industries (New York) sold United Tote Company (PA)

Business: Gaming technology and content services company

Buyer: Youbet.com: NasdaqSC:UBET (Woodland Hills)

Deal Value: $49 million

Seller: Lite-On Semiconductor Corp: TSEC See Taiwan Stock Exchange. :5305 (Taiwan) sold Anachip Corporation (Taiwan)

Business: Mfg and supplier of semiconductors

Buyer: Diodes: NasdaqNM:DIOD DIOD Direct Inward/Outward Dialing  (Westlake Village)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: Main Glory Holdings (Hong Kong)

Business: Produces wireless entertainment applications

Buyer: International Synergy Holding Co. (Malibu)

Deal Value: ND

Seller: TotalCom (MI) sold TotalCom, ISP Assets (MI)

Business: Provides broadband and wireless Internet

Buyer: IVI Communications: OTCBB:IVCM (Los Angeles)

Deal Value: ND

TRANSPORTATION

Seller: Rapid Freightways (santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs, city (1990 pop. 15,520), Los Angeles co., SW Calif., inc. 1957. The city lies in an oil and natural gas region and has diversified manufacturing. )

Business: Provides trucking and logistics services

Buyer: V & S Transportation (Rancho Dominguez)

Deal Value: ND
M&A Update

Announced mergers and acquisitions in
L.A. County.

Month        Number of Deals         Deal Value

July                85              $7.5 billion
August              75              $4.7 billion
September           77              $2.4 billion
October             72              $26.5 billion
November            66              $9.2 billion
December            73              $19.6 billion

Source: Goldsmith Agio Helms
COPYRIGHT 2006 CBJ, L.P.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:News & Analysis
Comment:As 2005 ended, some billion-dollar deals went down in L.A.(News & Analysis)
Author:Fine, Howard
Publication:Los Angeles Business Journal
Geographic Code:1U9CA
Date:Jan 23, 2006
Words:2934
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