Valley Briefs Medical Services Acquisition PracticeXpert Inc., a Toluca Lake based provider of administrative systems and technologies for medical practitioners, has acquired Cancer Care Network in Oklahoma City from The Shuster Group. The purchase price was $5.5 million including $4.1 million in cash, $500,000 in PracticeXpert common stock and $900,000 in notes. Cancer Care Network specializes in radiation and medical oncology billing and management for physicians and hospitals. Shuster Group officials said they decided to divest the company because its business model did not fit well with the company’s other businesses. Shuster operates a diversified health services company primarily in Oklahoma and surrounding states while CCN provides services nationally. Cindy Carmichael, CEO of CNN, will continue in that capacity. PracticeXpert has, since going public about a year ago, been aggressively acquiring medical billing companies across the country. The acquisition of CCN brings to six the number of firms it has acquired. Officials said the acquisition will bring the company’s annual revenues to about $15 million. Salem Issues Offering Salem Communications Corp. has issued a secondary public offering with plans to raise about $65 million for working capital and general corporate purposes, the company said. The shares being sold include 775,000 shares currently held by the Camarillo-based media company’s two founding principals, Edward G. Atsinger III and Stuart W. Epperson. Epperson, chairman of the board who is 67, owns about 4.3 million shares or just over 24 percent of the company’s Class A common stock. President and CEO Atsinger, 64, owns about 4.6 million shares or about 25 percent of the company’s common stock. Salem, which broadcasts religious and family-themed programming, has priced its offering at $30 per share. Credit Suisse First Boston LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are managing the offering. Separately, Salem said it plans to acquire two additional radio stations in Honolulu, Hawaii from Visionary Related Entertainment LLC. Salem will acquire KPOI-FM 97.5 and KHUI-FM 99.5 for $3.7 million The purchase will bring to eight the number of Salem stations in the Honolulu market. Gravel Brouhaha Continues Santa Clarita officials said they plan to appeal a federal court’s decision to allow Mexican concrete company Cemex to mine a canyon in the region. The approval gives Cemex the green light to extract about 56 tons of sand and gravel, materials the company says are sorely needed for home construction and highway improvements. But local residents have been fighting Cemex for decades, claiming that mining the site would exacerbate the already problematic air quality and create tremendous traffic congestion as trucks move from the site down the freeway into the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. CSUN Honors GSBB California State University at Northridge this week will dedicate a lecture auditorium to Good, Swartz, Brown & Berns LLP, an accounting firm that has funded accounting scholarships and faculty development for the college’s Department of Accounting. GSBB managing partner David Swartz, a CSUN alumnus himself, said that a number of the 100 employees of the firm are alumni of the University. Acquisition Complete North American Scientific Inc. has completed the acquisition of NOMOS Corp. The Chatsworth-based company said that with the acquisition it expects to report revenues of $27 million in the fiscal year ending Oct. 31. North American Scientific’s board has also been expanded to include several former NOMOS executives. John A. Friede, former NOMOS chairman, and John W. Manzetti, who serves as the president of North American Scientific’s NOMOS radiation oncology division, will bring the number of board members to nine. Label Forms DVD Division Bungalo Records, a Woodland Hills-based record company with a number of urban artists on its imprints, is venturing into DVDs, the company said. The company is starting a DVD division, with the discs to be distributed via Universal Music & Video Distribution, which also distributes Bungalo CDs. IT Firm Heads Downtown IT company BroadSpire has moved its Mission Hills offices to downtown Los Angeles. The company said it wanted to get closer to its data center, which is located downtown, and to consolidate all its employees under one roof. BroadSpire has data centers in Virginia, London and Amsterdam, with sales and administrative offices in L.A., London and India. The L.A. office has between 35 and 40 employees. ValueClick Raises Guidance ValueClick Inc. raised its guidance for the remainder of 2004 after beating its expectations in the first quarter of the year. The Westlake Village-based Internet advertising company said it earned $13.4 million or $0.16 per diluted share on revenues of $36.7 million for the first quarter ended Mar. 31, 2004. That compared with net income of $1.2 million or $0.02 per diluted share on revenues of $19.5 million in the comparable quarter of 2003. ValueClick said that based on its first quarter results it was raising its guidance for the full 2004 year to $0.26 to $0.29 per share, from previous expectations of $0.21 to $0.27 per share. ValueClick said revenues, previously projected to fall in the range of $145 million to $148 million for the year, are now expected to range from $147 million to $150 million. Vitesse Losses Continue Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. reported a steep rise in revenues for the company’s second quarter ended Mar. 31, but its net losses are continuing. Vitesse said it lost $17.4 million or $0.08 per share in the period, compared to a loss of $25.1 million or $0.12 per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2003. Revenues increased to $56 million, compared to $38.1 million in the comparable period last year. The Camarillo-based telecommunications supplier said it expects revenue to increase about 8 percent sequentially in the third quarter and its loss to range between $0.06 per share and $0.10 per share in the coming quarter. 21st Goes East 21st Century Insurance Group has expanded its marketing efforts to the Midwest. The Woodland Hills-based company has begun to offer automobile insurance in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. The move brings to eight the number of states in which the company operates. 21st Century also markets its auto insurance services in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington in addition to California. Sales, Earnings Rise at Tekelec Tekelec saw dramatic increases in revenues and earnings for the first quarter ended Mar. 31 resulting in part from its global expansion efforts. The Calabasas-based company said its net income rose to $5.8 million or $0.09 per diluted share, on revenues of $78.9 million in the first quarter of 2004, compared with net income of $1.5 million or $0.02 per share in the first quarter of 2003. First quarter 2004 revenues rose 43 percent from $55 million in the first quarter of 2003. “For the first time since 1993 revenues increased sequentially in the first quarter, unlike the 10 percent to 20 percent seasonal decline typically experienced in first quarter revenues,” said Tekelec President and CEO Fred Lax in releasing the report. Tekelec said 23 percent of its sales in the most recent period came from outside the U.S. The company projected revenues of $86 million to $88 million and earnings in the $0.01 to $0.02 range for the second quarter of 2004. Guitar Center Net Doubles Guitar Center Inc. more than doubled its net income in the first quarter of 2004 to $11.8 million or $0.46 per share. The Westlake Village-based company saw comparable store sales increase 11 percent in the period. For the first quarter of the year, store-wide revenues increased 21.6 percent to $349.7 million, compared with $287.5 million for the same period last year. As a result of the better-than-expected results, Guitar Center said it was projecting second quarter net sales to range between $331 million and $342 million and diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.33 to $0.35 cents, reflecting an increase from its previous guidance. 3D Loss Narrows 3D Systems Corp. narrowed its loss in the first quarter of 2004, thanks to a big boost to revenues in the quarter. The Valencia-based imaging company reported a net loss of $2.5 million or $0.19 per diluted share, on revenues of $29.5 million in the first quarter ended Mar. 31. That compared with a net loss of $14.9 million or $0.62 per share on revenues of $23 million in the first quarter of 2002. The company said it achieved the highest revenue levels in the company’s history in the first quarter of 2004. Wells Lights Madrid Marquee A grant from Wells Fargo Foundation will put the Madrid Theater in the black for the first time since it was renovated. Half of the $50,000 grant, awarded to the Valley Cultural Center, which operates the Madrid in Canoga Park, will go to the theater and the balance will go to the Concerts in the Park series that the Cultural Center also operates, said James Kinsey, president and CEO of the VCC. Wells Fargo will be the season sponsor of the Madrid Theater programs for the 2004 to 2005 season. VCC also runs 14 programs, including a July 4th extravaganza in its Concerts in the Park series from June through September. VCC took over operation of the Madrid from the city of Los Angeles just under a year ago. The city several years back renovated the theater, which had fallen into disrepair and operated as an adult entertainment venue. Although the facelift helped to spruce up the area, the theater struggled to find its audience. Kinsey said that since the VCC has operated it, it has developed a diverse range of programming including plays and concerts, and the agency is now working to book the theater during weekday nights by renting it for private corporate use as well as children’s programming. “We are redoubling our efforts to bring more business in during the week,” Kinsey said.