3M Camarillo Plant to Announce Name Change
An announcement is scheduled today for the new name of the 3M plant in Camarillo, which is becoming part of a new company with the division of 3M into two entities.
3M announced last year that it would split into two companies to better serve its customers and shareholders. The 3M name will remain with the company that serves the life science and industrial/consumer markets, while the new company will serve the data storage and data imaging markets.
The new company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and join the Fortune 500. It currently has 16 factory sites--including the Camarillo plant--and representatives in more than 60 countries.
“It’s like Christmas around here because everybody wants to know that the new name is,” said Bob Michels, production manager at the Camarillo plant.
3M Camarillo, which opened in 1963, has about 700 employees, Michels said. The change in the company will not affect the staffing level, although some employees may take advantage of an early retirement offer made by 3M several months ago, Michels said.
The target date for the corporate transition to two companies is July 1. Stockholders of record on that date will receive shares of both companies.
Bill Monahan, CEO of the new company, said the name and logo were decided upon “after more than four months of intensive research and input from employees, customers and marketing experts.”
The new name will be unveiled at the Camarillo plant during an employee meeting and celebration. The 3M Camarillo plant is the world’s leading producer of so-called personal computer data backup solution tapes and the inventor of the data cartridge and the TRAVAN technology.
Health-Care Investment Firm Sets Quarterly Record
LTC Properties Inc. announced closings of approximately $77.8 million in new investments during the first quarter of 1996, a record amount for a single quarter since the company’s inception in August 1992.
The investments that closed during the first quarter consisted of the purchase of 19 long-term care facilities for approximately $40.9 million and eight mortgage loans totaling $36.9 million.
The Oxnard-based company acquired 11 skilled-nursing facilities with 1,126 beds in Alabama, Iowa and Texas for approximately $26.5 million. In addition, the company purchased eight assisted-living facilities with a total of 279 units in Texas and Washington for approximately $14.4 million.
During the first quarter of 1996, the company also provided mortgage loans, some of which were secured by first mortgages, on 15 skilled-nursing homes and one assisted-living facility with a total of 1,502 beds and 111 units in seven states.
All but one of the mortgage loans provide for escalation in the interest rate. The mortgage loans have stated maturities of seven to 15 years, with a weighted average interest rate of 10.78% and certain facility fees.
The company is a self-administered real estate investment trust that was organized to invest in long-term care and other health-related facilities through mortgage loans, facility lease transactions and other investments.
Western Waste to Boost Stake in GI Takeover
Western Waste Industries said it agreed to boost its stake in GI Industries to 77% as part of a plan to bring the Simi Valley-based GI out of bankruptcy court proceedings.
Western Waste, which itself is scheduled to be acquired by USA Waste Services Inc., said it would issue about 183,000 shares in exchange for more than 43% of GI’s stock, on top of its current 34% stake.
It said it is considering a plan to buy the remaining 23% from small shareholders.
Under terms of the agreement, certain shareholders of GI Industries would receive one Western Waste common share for each 10 GI Industries shares they own.
GI Industries filed for bankruptcy court protection from creditors in August 1992 after suffering substantial losses in a failed attempt to expand operations.
“Those expanded operations have been discontinued and the core collection business remains profitable,” a company official said.
The plan is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
GI Industries leases equipment and vehicles and hauls trash from commercial properties and dumpsters. It has annual revenue of $20 million and serves more than 40,000 customers.
Torrance-based Western Waste Industries collects and disposes of solid waste for commercial, industrial and residential customers and provides landfill, transfer station and resource recovery services. Fiscal 1995 revenue was $270.9 million.
Last December, Western Waste agreed to be bought by USA Waste in a stock swap valued at about $620 million.
The transaction is expected to be completed by next month, Western Waste said.
Reddi Brake Supply’s Same-Store Sales Jump
Reddi Brake Supply Corp. said sales in stores open more than one year rose 20.8% in March.
Total sales for the four weeks ended March 31 were $5.33 million, a 19.6% increase from $4.45 million a year ago, the Ventura-based auto parts company said.
Reddi Brake Supply operates 85 Reddi Brake outlets in the United States.
Med-Design Seeks New Markets for Safety Needle
Med-Design Corp. has notified the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is investigating opportunities in the United States and abroad to market its products through licensing agreements or other forms of joint venture.
“Our ability to diversify our retractable safety needle technology . . . has now created substantial interest in our products and their applications,” said James Donegan, Med-Design chairman and CEO. “We believe that such alliances with third parties would enable the company to more quickly achieve market penetration of its products.”
Med-Design’s retractable safety needle products are designed to enable health-care professionals to perform a wide range of operations at a greatly reduced risk of accidental needle sticks.
The Philadelphia-based company, which has an office in Ventura, has entered into confidentiality agreements with domestic and international manufacturers and distributors of medical devices, pharmaceuticals and drug delivery systems, officials said.
Company developments in 1995 included substantial staffing increases and the completion of a project to assemble its prototypes and ultimately its products at the Ventura facility.
During its first year of operation as a public company, Med-Design incurred a loss of $1.71 per common share, restated to reflect the effect of a 100% stock dividend effective Feb. 26.
ACT Networks Gets Order From Brazilian Airline
ACT Networks said it will supply networking equipment to Brazilian airline Taxi Aerea Marilia SA in a contract valued at about $800,000.
The equipment will allow the Sao Paulo-based company known as TAM to communicate with about 70 airports in Brazil through data and voice connections, said Camarillo-based ACT Networks.
The holding company runs Transportes Aereos Regionais, the leading Brazilian regional airline, under the same TAM acronym. The order will be delivered within six months, ACT officials said.
“This contract is the first major order for our NetPerformer product line,” said ACT Networks Chief Executive Martin Shum.
ACT Networks’ NetPerformer 9500 frame relay networking equipment can handle passenger check-ins, track luggage and cargo traffic, and process sales and ticketing.
TAM, along with a small regional unit called Brazil Central, controls about 50% of Brazil’s regional air traffic and flies to 65 cities in the country.
Research Firm Opens Thousand Oaks Office
Kendle, which has been providing contract research services to pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturers for more than 15 years, has opened an office in Thousand Oaks.
The new office, at 299 W. Hillcrest Drive, Suite 200, will house 18 clinical data managers, project managers and support personnel, and will expand to 30 people by the end of this year.
Kendle is headquartered in Cincinnati.
The Thousand Oaks office is the firm’s second location, with two more regional offices slated to open later this year.
