Laguna Hills’ OmniSource Purchases Poco Grande

OmniSource, a Laguna Hills vitamin maker, said Wednesday it has purchased a San Diego-based real estate development company in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $4.2 million.

The acquisition of Poco Grande Inc. will give OmniSource 53 acres of industrial and residential property near an affluent area of San Marcos in northern San Diego County.

OmniSource, which manufactures and markets vitamin and mineral supplements, will build a plant on 22 acres of the Poco Grande property to house its operations and research and development division, said R. Marcus Watkins, the company’s president.

The firm plans to develop the remaining 31 acres as a residential tract, he said.

Watkins said Poco Grande was owned by four partners who will continue to invest in real estate. The firm had no employees, he said.

Under the terms of the deal, OmniSource will make an initial cash payment of $200,000 to the Poco partners, followed by up to $800,000 in future payments. OmniSource also will give the partners 1 million shares of newly issued common stock and will pay off a $709,000 lien on the property with an additional 354,375 newly issued shares.

The transactions will leave OmniSource with about 12.5 million shares outstanding, Watkins said.