Thursday, October 16, 2008


Microsemi Buys Power Supply Firm
Irvine-based Microsemi, a manufacturer of analog, mixed signal integrated circuits, said Thursday that it has acquired La Mirada-based Babcock, Inc., a manufacturer of power supplies. According to Microsemi, it paid approximately $20M in cash to acquire all the shares of Babcock's parent firm, Electro Module Inc. Babcock designs and manufactures power supplies and power conditioning units for satellite, airborne, shipboard, and ground based electronics systems, and was founded in 1947. Microsemi (More info...)
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You2Gov Enhances Politics Site
Los Angeles-based You2Gov, an online social networking startup focused on politics, said this week that it has added new technology to allow its users to directly contact members of Congress. According to You2Gov, it has created a free, customized database with contact information from all of the members of the United States Congress, including the House and the Senate. The firm's site now allows users to email, write, or make calls via Skype and Jaxtr to their political representatives. You2Gov (More info...)
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Teledyne Buys UK Sensor Firm
Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies said Thursday that it has acquired Cormon Limited and Cormon Technology Limited, a developer of subsea and surface sand and corrosion sensor systems used in oil and gas production. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Cormon's products are used in oil and gas production processes for hydrocarbon production monitoring. Cormon will be renamed Teledyne Cormon Limited. Teledyne is owns a wide range of electronics instrumentation, systems, a (More info...)
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RealGifts Gets Facebook Funding
San Diego-based RealGifts, a developer of a Facebook application for giving real gifts to friends, is one of the recipients of the $25,000 Facebook fbFund competition. The firm was selected as one of 25 winners by Facebook yesterday. Facebook's fbFund is a $10M fund focused on identifying talent and funding entrepreneurs developing Facebook software applications. According to Facebook the winners announced yesterday were selected by a investment committee that included members from Facebook, Acc (More info...)
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Valeant Pharmaceuticals Completes Coria Laboratories Buy
Aliso Viejo-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said Thursday that it has completed its acquisition of Coria Laboratories Ltd. The deal was worth $95M. Valeant had originally announced the acquisition of Coria Laboratories from its parent company, DFB Pharmaceuticals, on September 17th. Coria Laboratories is focused on dermatology products.
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K2 Network Upgrades Game Site
Irvine-based K2 Network, which published video games, said late Wednesday that it has launched an improved version of the firm's GamersFirst.com game site. The site provides downloads, chat forums, and other information about K2's various games. The firm said the upgraded site adds improved navigation, an expanded marketplace for purchasing game premiums and special items, as well as news and user profile pages. The new site is available in English--and for whatever reason--Turkish.
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QAD CFO Bounces Back
Santa Barbara-based QAD, a provider of manufacturing and supply chain management software, said this morning that the firm has re-hired Daniel Lender, the firm's former CFO. According to QAD, Lender will resume his duties as CFO at the firm on October 20th. Reason for the rapid return to QAD was not given; Lender had just resigned at the end of August to "pursue new business opportunities" after having served as EVP and CFO of the firm since July of 2003.
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magnify360 Launches Advertising Optimization Tool
Los Angeles-based magnify360, a provider of web page optimization tools, has lauched a new product for optimizing Google AdWords advertising, the firm announced today. magnify360 said its new Google Cost Optimizer automatically synchronizes with AdWords accounts, and provides campaign performance metrics to users about return on investment in individual keywords, cost per click, conversion rates, and other information. Among features of the new tool are the ability to tie specific individual lea (More info...)
posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008(Full story)