First California faces more shareholder dissent
Investors who own 5.4 percent of First California Financial Group’s shares have joined the ranks of disgruntled stockholders after the bank snubbed a buyout offer from Los Angeles-based PacWest Bancorp. A letter dated May 23 from Loeb Offshore Management out of New York came through in the bank’s regulatory filings on May 29. Addressing Westlake Read More →
Teledyne to buy N.Y. firm for $291M
Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies has agreed to purchase a New York-based electronics testing instruments maker in a deal valued at $291 million. Teledyne, an industrial-defense conglomerate, is set to purchase Chestnut Ridge-based LeCroy Corp. for $14.30 a share, for a total of about $240 million. Stock options, appreciation rights and net debt push the deal Read More →
Minority group opposes PCBC-Union deal
The San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce has told banking regulators that it opposes Union Bank’s $1.5 billion acquisition of Santa Barbara-based Pacific Capital Bancorp, according to the business newspaper for that region. The San Francisco Business Times reports that the chamber has told regulators it opposed the deal because it feels San Francisco-based Read More →
Capps calls for wind energy support
The Central Coast’s fledgling wind energy business could be in big trouble if production tax incentives are allowed to expire at the end of the year. United Technologies is trying to sell or shut Clipper Windpower, once a shining star of the wind turbine business and the region’s fastest growing company. On May 15, wind Read More →
NSF gives $3.3M to UCSB, University of Texas
The National Science Foundation has given $3.3 million to UC Santa Barbara and The University of Texas at El Paso to establish a materials science and engineering program that will focus on solar energy research. The grant forges a partnership between The University of Texas and UCSB’s Materials Research Laboratory, according to a news release Read More →
Williams: Green jobs key to Central Coast economy
The Central Coast has the potential to be a green-jobs leader, but the public sector must provide supportive policies. That was the view from 35th District Assembly Member Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, who hosted the second annual Green Jobs Summit at Ventura City Hall on May 19. Government needs to “send the right signals,” he Read More →
