Daily Business Report-Feb. 9, 2021
Cubic Corp. headquarters are at 9333 Balboa Ave., San Diego. (Photo courtesy of Cubic)
Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital
to acquire Cubic Corp. in
all-cash transaction valued at $2.8 billion
Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation, an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management L.P., announced plans to acquire San Diego’s Cubic Corporation for $70 per share in cash, or $2.8 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cubic shareholders will receive $70 in cash for each share of Cubic’s common stock they currently hold, representing a premium of approximately 58 percent to Cubic’s unaffected closing stock price on Sept. 18, 2020, the last trading day before the company’s disclosure of third-party interest in potentially acquiring Cubic.
Following the closing of the transaction, Cubic will remain based in San Diego. The transaction is expected to be seamless for customers and employees across Cubic’s businesses.
“This transaction is in the best interests of our shareholders and provides them with a significant premium and liquidity – while accelerating future growth to the benefit of our employees and customers,” said Bradley H. Feldmann, chairman, president and CEO of Cubic.
Veritas Capital is a New York-based private-equity firm founded in 1992.
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How EDD and Bank of America make
millions on California unemployment
By Lauren Hepler | CalMatters
She didn’t know it at the time, but last September was when everything started to unravel for Julie Hansen. It was late in the month when the furloughed Disneyland candy maker noticed a string of suspicious charges totaling $12,222.23 on her state-issued Bank of America unemployment debit card. First, the money was credited back to her account. Then it disappeared again, setting in motion a chain of events that left her and her son homeless.
Behind the scenes, California’s Employment Development Department and longtime debit card contractor Bank of America were scrambling to rein in rampant fraud. They froze some 350,000 unemployment accounts around the time Hansen’s card was cut off.
The catch: while Hansen and other out-of-work Californians were left in financial purgatory unable to access unemployment money, a Great Recession-era contractensured that the state and the bank kept raking in millions of dollars in merchant fees whenever debit cards still in circulation were swiped. In September, the EDD made $5.2 million on a debit card revenue sharing agreement with Bank of America — a sizable chunk of the $22.5 million the state raked in from March to October, according to public records requested by CalMatters.
How much money did Bank of America make on its end of the deal? The state says it doesn’t know, and the bank won’t say, despite a contract requirement to report unemployment debit card fees and revenue each month.
Illumina adds nine startups to accelerator program,
announces $27.5 million matching funds
Illuminaannounced Monday the funding of nine companies as part of its accelerator programs in the U.S. and the UK.
During the six-month funding cycle, the participants will receive an undisclosed amount of seed investment, access to Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, and lab space adjacent to Illumina’s Bay Area and Cambridge, UK campuses, respectively, as well as access to guidance and expertise.
Illumina also announced it has secured £20 million ($27.5 million) in commitments that would match between £500,000 and £4 million in new capital raised by Illumina Accelerator Cambridge graduates within a year. The funding includes £10 million from LifeArc.
The new cohort includes several firms developing diagnostics or genomics tools.
Illumina Accelerator has invested in more than 45 genomics startups from across the globe, which have collectively raised nearly $600 million in venture capital funding. Last month, Illumina announced it would be partnering with Sequoia Capital China on a genomics incubator in China.
NuVasive expands Clinical
Professional Development program
NuVasive, Inc., a leader in spine technology innovation, announced the expansion of the company’s Clinical Professional Development and surgeon education program with the planned opening of the NuVasive East Coast Experience Center in Englewood, N.J. in third quarter 2021. The East Coast Experience Center will complement the company’s West Coast Experience Center located at the NuVasive headquarters in San Diego, and allows for advanced education and cadaveric training of global spine surgeons on its less invasive procedural solutions and technologies.
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Finalists announced for chancellor of
San Diego Community College District
The search for the San Diego Community College District’s (SDCCD) next chancellor has been narrowed to four candidates with strong credentials in community college leadership.
Barbara Kavalier, president of St. Charles Community College in St. Charles, Mo., previously served as district president of Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas.
Lee Lambert, chancellor of Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz., previously served as president of Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Wash.
Pamela Luster, president of San Diego Mesa College, previously served as interim vice president of academic services/permanent vice president of Student Services at Las Positas College in Livermore, Calif.
Carlos O. Turner Cortez, president of the San Diego College of Continuing Education,
previously served as vice president of instruction at Berkeley City College in Berkeley.
The board is aiming to make a final selection and announce the new chancellor in late March with the goal of having the new chancellor start July 1.
Mack Conachen joins Thornton Tomasetti
as VP and San Diego office director
Mack Conachen has joined Thornton Tomasetti as vice president and San Diego office director. Conachen has more than 15 years of experience in structural design, analysis, and project management.
His work spans a wide range of project types, including education, healthcare, biotech and laboratory design, architecturally exposed structures, renovation and rehabilitation projects and seismic retrofits.
Conachen will be responsible for the growth and management of the San Diego office, which has a number of high-profile projects in the area including the University of San Diego’s Pepper Canyon development.
Prior to joining Thornton Tomasetti, he was a senior structural engineer at IMEG Corp in San Diego.
Conachen holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and a master’s degree in structural engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a Registered Architect in Wisconsin, a Licensed Structural Engineer and Licensed Professional Engineer in California.
Leslie Hushka joins Bumble Bee Seafood Co.
as senior VP of global corporate responsibility
Leslie Hushka has joined the leadership team of The Bumble Bee Seafood Co. as senior vice president of global corporate responsibiliy. Hushka will be responsible for leading the company in its efforts to protect and restore the health of the world’s oceans as Bumble Bee continues its commitment to work to close gaps on some of the industry’s biggest sustainability challenges.
Hushka is a seasoned sustainability professional having spent 23 years in research, government affairs and sustainability positions at ExxonMobil where she was charged with advancing priorities on a wide array of societal issues. Her work included leading the company’s plastic waste solutions programs and external sustainability collaborations.
Hushka will oversee the initiatives set forth under Bumble Bee’s recent $40 million commitment to expand its sustainability efforts. Announced in 2020, the Accelerator Fund is being used to ensure the health and abundance of tuna stocks, to reduce the impact of fishing on other species, and to remove plastics and other waste from the ocean.
Cubic awarded $39 million contract
by N.Y. Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Cubic Corp.’s Cubic Transportation Systemsbusiness division was awarded a contract option worth $39 million by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to upgrade the fare payment system for Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. This contract expands phase four of the OMNY contract with MTA to upgrade legacy systems to a new account-based contactless fare payment system for New York City transit, MTA bus and railroads.
SDG&E files 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Plan
San Diego Gas & Electric completed and filed its annual update to the 2020-2022 Wildfire Mitigation Plan, a strategic guide that describes SDG&E’s efforts to help reduce the potential for utility infrastructure-related fires and help protect the safety of SDG&E’s customers, employees and the communities it serves.
Submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 5, the Update builds upon SDG&E’s decades-long commitment to wildfire safety, addressing plan progress, regulatory and stakeholder feedback, and advancements in infrastructure-related wildfire mitigation and resiliency programs planned for the coming year.
In 2021, SDG&E will continue to advance many of the initiatives that began in 2020 such as PSPS mitigation efforts and expanded outreach to vulnerable communities, and make additional enhancements to data collection and analysis. These enhancements will allow for more granular risk assessments and help prioritize infrastructure hardening projects and resource allocation in the future.
Ballast Point Brewing Co. launches
‘Brewing for Diversity’ scholarship
Ballast Point announced the launch of the inaugural Brewing for Diversity annual scholarship initiative in partnership with the UC San Diego Extension Brewing Program. Ballast Point’s Brewing for Diversity scholarship seeks to advance diversity and inclusion across all aspects of the brewing community by providing avenues for education and opportunities for future professional employment.
The scholarship will grant underrepresented students the funds and tools they need to participate successfully in UC San Diego Extension’s Brewing Certificate Program. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply online between now and May 15 at extension.ucsd.edu/brewing.
To learn more about the Ballast Point’s Brewing for Diversity Scholarship and how to apply, please visit, extension.ucsd.edu/brewing.
Registration opens for county online
auction featuring 695 properties
San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced bidder registration is now open for the 2021 online property tax auction. A total of 695 properties will be up for sale.
Anyone around the world can bid during the online property tax auction from March 12-17. To participate, bidders must register before March 4 at the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s tax auction website, sdttc.mytaxsale.com. They must also submit a refundable $1,000 deposit and a nonrefundable $35 processing fee (some parcels may require a larger deposit).
“We have 53 residential or commercial properties, 558 timeshares, and 84 parcels of land for sale. If all properties are sold for the minimum bid, the county would bring in $15,512,100,” McAllister said. “Prospective bidders should sign up for e-notifications for our property tax auction at sdttc.com to receive email reminders before important deadlines.”
Owners of the auctioned properties can still avoid going to sale; they have until 5 p.m. on March 11 to redeem their parcel and pay all taxes and fees owed.
