Active Life raises 500K
Active Life Scientific, a six-year-old medical device company that develops biopsy technology, has raised $500,000 in a round of financing, the Santa Barbara-based firm said May 16. The Series A round was filled by new and existing investors, and it included an investment by Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel investor network in the U.S. Read More →
FCAL merger with PacWest set to close May 31
Los Angeles-based PacWest Bancorp and Westlake Village-based First California Financial Group have received the go-ahead from federal banking regulators to finalize a $237 million merger. The deal, which will merge First California into PacWest and likely result in about a dozen overlapping branches being shuttered, is expected to close on May 31. The banks said Read More →
KCLU buys Santa Maria station
Thousand Oaks-based National Public Radio station KCLU has purchased a station in Santa Maria that will expand its reach to the Central Coast. The station, which is a community service of California Lutheran University, will begin broadcasting to listeners in Santa Maria, the Santa Ynez Valley, Lompoc, Nipomo and the Five Cities area. The frequency Read More →
PennyMac shares jump 2.6% on second day of trading
Shares of PennyMac Financial Services climbed another 2.6 percent the day after they started trading publicly for the first time. The Moorpark-based company, founded in 2008 by former top executives at Countrywide Financial Corp., raised just over $200 million in its initial public offering of stock after opening with a share price of $18.25 on Read More →
El Encanto owner reports $8.3M loss
Orient-Express Hotels, the Bermuda-based luxury travel firm that owns and operates the newly-reopened El Encanto hotel in Santa Barbara, reported an $8.3 million loss on revenue of $103.2 million for the first quarter. That’s a slight improvement over a $14.4 million loss during the same time period last year, and officials said in the May Read More →
Vasquez: Navy’s pivot to Pacific benefits Ventura County
An additional 700 military personnel will come to Naval Base Ventura County to operate a unit of the Navy’s first large drone system, the base commander told a gathering of business leaders in Thousand Oaks on Thursday. Capt. Lawrence Vasquez talked about the economic impact of the naval base at a Corporate Leaders Breakfast at Read More →
Dole reports Q1 loss after spinning off packaged food business
Dole Food Co. reported a first-quarter loss of $65.6 million, largely due to its packaged foods operations, which have since been discontinued and sold to a Japanese firm for $1.7 billion in cash. The Westlake Village-based produce giant sold its global packaged foods and Asia fresh produce businesses to Itochu Corp. in a deal that Read More →