THE TIMES 100 : Buying Into Big Growth : Many of the state’s fastest-growing companies got that way by spending the year acquiring other firms. Others enjoyed healthy increases in sales.

There is no faster way to grow than buying another company--that’s why you hear a lot about corporate takeovers. And in 1994, it seems, buying was the way to grow. Like last year’s Times 100 growth chart-topper Mycogen Corp., a San Diego biotechnology concern, several of the leaders in the 1994 Times Growth 100 are firms that spent last year buying other companies.

Here’s a look at how California companies grew last year. First, a few that took over other companies:

ThermoLase Corp., the leader on this year’s growth list, provides the most dramatic example of that strategy. The San Diego-based spinoff of a high-tech optics and signal processing firm saw its sales explode from $625,000 in 1993 to $18.6 million in 1994 after it purchased CBI Laboratories, a Texas-based manufacturer of bath and skin care products.

ThermoLase was created in January, 1993, to develop a painless hair removal system based on laser technology and plans to open its first salon later this year. The ThermoLase process--which was granted market clearance by the FDA last week--requires that the skin be treated with a lotion prior to being scanned by a laser. ThermoLase bought CBI Laboratories to have an in-house manufacturer of that specialized lotion and ended up with a multimillion-dollar personal care products business.

CBI supplies retailers like Banana Republic, Lord & Taylor and Pier One with lotions that are sold under the stores’ names. It also markets its own line of products under the brand name Body Language. CBI’s sales account for nearly all of ThermoLase’s revenue last year.

CareLine Inc. has built its business by buying ambulance companies and has acquired 21 to date. In 1994 alone, the Santa Ana-based company bought nine ambulance services and saw its annual revenue surge 357%.

CareLine has about 700 ambulances operating in 11 states, including 150 in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties. By consolidating many ambulance services under one company, CareLine has created economies of scale and reinvested savings in state-of-the-art equipment, said Brad Langdale the firm’s finance director.

The ambulance industry as a whole is expected to become a $5-billion to $6-billion business as the population ages and health maintenance organizations use ambulances more frequently to transport patients to their provider groups, Langdale said.

AmeriQuest Inc. is a global distributor of computer hardware and software that completed five strategic acquisitions in 1994 and saw its revenues climb 200% to more than $220 million in 1994.

The acquisitions, executed by a brand-new management team, expanded AmeriQuest’s access to the laser printer and network server markets, Senior Vice President Peter Grubstein said.

Overall, the fastest-growing companies grew much faster in 1994 than they did in 1993. This year the threshold to make the Times Growth 100 was a 53% increase in sales, compared to 26% on last year’s list and 20% for 1992. In 1994, 39 companies reported sales growth of at least 100%; last year there were only five.

Some companies on the new Times Growth 100 list cultivated their businesses and saw years of preparatory work pay off with explosive sales growth in 1994. Others attribute the new revenue to sudden popularity of their product. Some examples:

Cinergi Pictures Entertainment was founded in November, 1989, but didn’t begin releasing a steady stream of films until the very end of 1993, when “Tombstone” opened to enthusiastic crowds. The film, a chronicle of the life of Wyatt Earp, grossed $56 million at American box offices and sold 400,000 copies on video, with the bulk of that revenue occurring in 1994.

Additional revenue came through foreign releases, video sales and pay-per-view proceeds. Altogether, Cinergi recorded 1994 revenue of $109 million--a 1,111% increase over 1993.

J.M. Peters Co., a Newport Beach-based home builder, gained momentum last year after new management took over the then-bankrupt company in 1992. The team began building moderately-priced single-family houses in addition to high-end homes and expanded. In 1994, J.M. Peters built more than 840 homes and took in $153 million, up 168% over 1993.

DNA Plant Technology Corp., an agribusiness/biotechnology company, experienced an 82% growth in sales after introducing a tasty tomato and sweet mini-pepper marketed under the brand name “FreshWorld Farms.”

DNA Plant Technology bred its tomato to have a longer shelf life, better color and “more of a sweet-acid-tomato taste,” said Ellen Martin, a spokeswoman for the Oakland-based company. Consumers literally ate them up, even at a price of $1.99 a pound.

This year the company plans to begin marketing the Endless Summer tomato, which is grown from a genetically engineered seed and ripens more slowly than the average tomato. That gives it a longer shelf life without getting too mushy, Martin said.

Janex International, based in Woodland Hills, built upon a host of licenses to create products for children ranging from flashlights to toothbrushes, all adorned with kids’ favorite characters from “The Lion King,” “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and “Batman.”

Janex also expanded its distribution last year to include supermarket and drug store chains in addition to major retailers.

Selling products beyond the toy aisle contributed to a 742% growth in sales last year.

Showscan Corp., with new management installed in April, 1994, saw its ride simulation and giant-screen theater businesses grow 234% last year.

The Culver City company sold 15 rides and theaters and signed a deal with United Artists to build 26 more.

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The Growth 100

Companies ranked by increase in sales from 1993 to 1994.

1994 1994 Revenue Revenue Rank Company ($ millions) % Growth 1 ThermoLase Corp. 18.7 2,889 2 Cinergi Pictures Enter. 109.0 1,111 3 Janex International Inc. 13.1 742 4 Advantage Life Products 11.9 673 5 CareLine Inc. 148.2 357 6 Benton Oil & Gas Co. 34.6 343 7 3DO Co. 26.2 331 8 Incomnet Inc. 46.8 314 9 Helionetics Inc. 62.7 309 10 Craig Corp. 13.2 300 11 Integrated Process Equip. 47.7 270 12 Showscan Entertainment 13.8 234 13 E for M Corp. 146.4 210 14 AmeriQuest Technologies 220.8 200 15 NetManage Inc. 61.6 196 16 Cidco Inc. 100.3 187 17 J.M. Peters Co. 153.4 168 18 Excel Realty Trust Inc. 38.6 153 19 Intuit Inc. 365.1 146 20 MRV Communications Inc. 17.5 136 21 Copart Inc. 34.9 134 22 DSP Group Inc. 28.6 130 23 Cobra Golf Inc. 124.1 121 24 Styles on Video Inc. 14.8 121 25 ChemTrak Inc. 10.3 119 26 EPIC Design Technology 13.9 119 27 Spelling Entertainment 599.8 118 28 HomeTown Buffet Inc. 75.6 118 29 Gensia Inc. 71.8 115 30 Metricom Inc. 21.6 114 31 Bio-Dental Technologies 31.6 113 32 Regency Health Services 377.4 112 33 Aura Systems Inc. 35.9 111 34 Adobe Systems Inc. 685.1 110 35 Aurora Electronics Inc. 136.9 109 36 StrataCom Inc. 154.2 107 37 Ventritex Inc. 125.5 104 38 Agouron Pharmaceuticals 22.5 101 39 Bell Microproducts Inc. 250.8 100 40 Spectrum HoloByte Inc. 82.7 99 41 Alliance Semiconductor 94.7 99 42 Novellus Systems Inc. 224.7 98 43 PeopleSoft Inc. 112.9 94 44 Molecular Biosystems, Inc 16.8 90 45 C-Cube Microsystems Inc. 45.0 90 46 DVI Inc. 28.0 89 47 Kennedy-Wilson Inc. 48.1 89 48 ENCAD Inc. 43.7 88 49 Applied Digital Access 36.9 87 50 Proxima Corp. 116.9 87 51 Tencor Instruments 182.3 86 52 Ortel Corp. 45.4 84 53 Alantec, Corp. 25.1 84 54 McAfee Associates 32.9 84 55 DNA Plant Technology Corp 16.3 82 56 FPA Medical Management 25.3 81 57 Mercury Interactive Corp. 23.5 80 58 Level One Communications 46.8 80 59 Callaway Golf 448.7 76 60 ReSound Corp. 62.3 74 61 LTC Properties Inc. 27.6 74 62 Computer Marketplace 31.4 74 63 Special Devices Inc. 74.4 73 64 Atmel Corp. 375.1 69 65 Ultratech Stepper Inc. 91.3 69 66 ThermoTrex Corp. 91.1 68 67 Wonderware Corp. 35.7 67 68 Wyle Electronics 792.3 67 69 Veterinary Centers of Am. 42.2 67 70 United States Filter 247.3 66 71 Cisco Systems Inc. 1,540.2 66 72 Rexhall Industries Inc. 50.1 66 73 Insurance Auto Auctions 172.1 65 74 Physicians Clinical Lab. 104.1 65 75 Lam Research Corp. 611.3 65 76 PairGain Technologies 59.5 64 77 Odwalla Inc. 24.2 63 78 WCT Communications Inc. 132.2 63 79 All American Communic. 114.9 63 80 Merisel Inc. 5,018.7 63 81 Sybase Inc. 693.8 63 82 KLA Instruments Corp. 322.6 62 83 Cirrus Logic Inc. 786.0 62 84 Cerplex Group Inc. 126.9 61 85 Pacific Physician Srvcs. 264.1 61 86 Pinnacle Micro Inc. 57.7 59 87 Satellite Tech. Mgmt. 26.3 58 88 Hollywood Park Inc. 117.3 57 89 OPTi Inc. 134.1 57 90 Biosys Inc. 15.1 57 91 Broderbund Software Inc. 151.9 57 92 Digital Link Corp. 35.2 56 93 Home Theater Prod. Int’l. 41.5 56 94 Pacific Sunwear of CA 85.3 55 95 Wavefront Technologies 27.7 55 96 Solectron Corp. 1,785.7 54 97 Chad Therapeutics 13.2 54 98 Summa Industries Inc. 17.8 53 99 Read-Rite Corp. 726.1 53 100 QUALCOMM Inc. 293.8 53