by The Editors on June 15, 2008
Founder and CEO Will Howard and General Manger Aaron Behle are happy to announce that the Carlsbad-based action sports eyewear company Dragon is going private, escaping from the clutches of Italian eyewear giant Luxotica.
We want to thank Scott Olivet and the rest of the Oakley team for their support over the years and during this transition,” says Howard. “In two very different business plans, we collectively saw an opportunity to allow Dragon to break off and do its own thing in the marketplace.”
“We have restructured Dragon to fully leverage a decade of brand authenticity and capitalize on what we believe is a paradigm shift in the action sports market” said Behle. “We have a unique position with a unique plan. More importantly, we have a young and passionate team with the ability to ‘zig’ while the market ‘zags’ ‘and enjoy ourselves along the way.”
Congrats, Will. It’s about time.
[Link: Dragon Alliance via Freeskier]
by The Editors on June 13, 2008
Our favorite Carlsbad-based life sciences company Invitrogen just spent $6.4 billion to purchase “scientific instruments-maker Applera’s Applied Biosystems Group.”
Invitrogen will pay $38 per share for Applied Biosystems, representing a 17 percent premium to the stock’s closing price Wednesday. . . . The deal, which needs the approval of both companies’ shareholders, is expected to close this fall.
About 45 percent of the deal will reportedly be in cash, the rest of stock. Invitrogen’s shares dropped nearly $6 a share on the news and is now trading at $38.97. Up .24 on the day.
And we thought Invitrogen couldn’t get any scarier.
[Link: Chicago Tribune]
by The Editors on June 6, 2008
According to a story on Conde Nast Portfolio.com there is a battle going on right here in Carlsbadistan between TaylorMade CEO Mark King and Callaway CEO George Fellows.
The rivalry between the two top equipmentmakers teed off more than a decade ago, but the competition has grown more intense as growth in the industry as a whole has slowed. Adding to the tension for these two companies is their proximity to one another: Both Callaway and TaylorMade, which is owned by German sporting-goods company Adidas Group, are headquartered in Carlsbad, California. Executives from both firms often dine at the same place—the popular local brewery and restaurant Karl Strauss—but at distant tables.
Click the link for the rest of the inside dirt on the local leaders of the golf industry.
[Link: Portfolio.com]
by The Editors on June 4, 2008
They’re not exactly the Oscars, but Invitrogen, our favorite Carlsbad life sciences company, just cleaned up at the annual Life Science Industry Awards, taking home a total of six awards. We’ve never heard sexier categories: Cell Biology Kits and Reagents; Cell Culture Media and Reagents; Most Responsive Customer Service;
Most Knowledgeable Technical Support; Most Useful Website; and Most Memorable Print Advertisements.
This is the fourth year in a row that customers have recognized Invitrogen as being one of the best companies in the life sciences industry,” said Greg Lucier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Invitrogen. “The twelve nominations, and six awards, that we received demonstrate success in our strategy of maintaining an innovative portfolio of products and differentiated services.”
Invitrogen is simply the most of the mostest.
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by The Editors on June 4, 2008
It looks like the typical alley layout for Carlsbad’s new Apple Store at The Forum Shopping Center, but that hasn’t stopped the secret keepers in Cupertino from erecting an enormous black wall to keep our prying eyes out of the mix.
By peering through a couple cracks in the facade we could see the back wall taking shape, but completion still appears to be weeks or months out. Speed the plow, will you.
by The Editors on June 3, 2008
Carlsbad based Case Financial, Inc. (which used to provide litigation funding to attorneys but as of February 2008 is “developing uranium claims in the State of Wyoming”) has signed an exploration agreement with Trio Gold Corp to provide $4 million dollars to explore 29 gold claims near Elko, Nevada.
According to Case Financial, Inc. CEO Michael Schaffer “The Carlin Trend is the most prolific gold area in North America and hosts as many as 30 gold producing mines and development projects, on which over 100 million ounces of gold production and inventory have been identified, including world class deposits such as Newmont Mining’s Carlin mine and Barrick Gold’s Meikle mine.”
At $882 an ounce, gold mines are looking better and better, aren’t they. Follow the jump for all the details.
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by The Editors on May 30, 2008
Carlsbad based Callaway Golf has announced that they are closing their 70,000-square-foot golfball manufacturing facility in Gloversville, NY on July 31 and laying off 120 workers as a way of taking “advantage of lower manufacturing and shipping costs in China,” according to a story in the Triangle Business Journal.
We have an obligation to our shareholders and employees to run as efficiently as possible,” said Michele Szynal, a Callaway spokeswoman. “This obviously makes financial sense for us.”
We think Michele meant a responsibility to Callaway’s remaining employees, as they don’t seem too bothered by cutting 120.
[Link: Triangle Business Journal]
by The Editors on May 29, 2008
Last night while The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher were interviewing their new boss News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch in Carlsbad’s Aviara Grand Ballroom, we were kicking back in the lobby bar listening to the cool jazz sounds of San Diego’s Keni Yarbro and waiting to see what kind trouble we could get into. Only moments before we arrived at The Four Seasons Valleywag.com’s Owen Thomas had been thrown out of the hotel entirely, so we realized anything was possible.
Each year, when the All Things D Conference comes to Carlsbadistan, we try to see how deep we can barge. This year, things went shockingly smoother. The first person we saw when walking into the lobby was Gizmodo.com editor Brian Lam hurrying into the conference center. Then, after running into Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and social media marketing pro Rodney Rumford we decided to try rolling into the “Nightcap Gathering.” No luck. Security stopped us at the entrance. Badges? Apparently, we needed stinking badges.
On returning to the bar and telling our story of woe, a kind PR wizard from an unnamed search giant leaned over. “You need a badge?” he said. “Here, use mine. Just bring it back in 10 minutes. . . . and don’t say anything to the press.”
And just like that we were sipping free champagne in a room full of sweaty tech geeks who had been sitting in their dress slacks for 14 hours. Let just say there was a lot of “bad air” in that room. If not for the pouring talents of Aviara’s Julie and Cindy we don’t know what we would have done.
On the way out we saw Techcrunch.com’s Michael Arrington talking in the corner, but he seemed too busy ruling the tech blog world, so we didn’t bother him.
For a look at all the media that All Things D brings Carlsbad, just click here. It is astounding.
Follow the jump for all our photos of the evening.
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by The Editors on May 28, 2008
Break open the champagne, Wal-Mart, home of the world’s ugliest shoppers, has decided not to build a “supercenter” on land that it purchased in Carlsbad, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Company representatives told city officials yesterday that they would not file an application to build on their property at College Boulevard and El Camino Real in central Carlsbad. . .Instead, they would sell the 17.6 acres, which is zoned for a shopping center.
The company says it had nothing to do with “local opposition” but we’re glad they’re gone no matter who is responsible. Keep that stuff in Oside.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on May 28, 2008
Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher don’t mess around each year when they bring their digital carnival to Carlsbadistan’s Four Seasons Aviara. They just round up the CEOs, walk them across the stage, ask them a few questions, and then shoo them off the other side leaving us feeling more like spectators at the National Western Stock Show. But people who attend All Things D are busy and apparently they want their days loaded with stampeding titans.
For example, today the following people were interviewed (and the day is far from over): Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision; Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman and CEO, Sony; Barry Diller, Chairman and CEO, IAC; Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell; Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker; Jeff Bewkes, President and CEO, Time Warner; and only moments ago former Microsoft Chief Strategist Nathan Myhrvold, Founder and CEO, Intellectual Ventures, took the stage.
It’s enough to make our heads spin. But tonight we’ll get it all straightened out.
[Link: D6: All Things D]
Founder and CEO Will Howard and General Manger Aaron Behle are happy to announce that the Carlsbad-based action sports eyewear company Dragon is going private, escaping from the clutches of Italian eyewear giant Luxotica.
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