– San Fernando Valley Encino The physician operator of an Encino medical clinic was arrested earlier this month for selling narcotics at his business while awaiting trial on another narcotics charge. Dr. Yahya Hedvat was arrested after a California Medical Board undercover agent was sold hydrocodone at Encino Urgent Care, 18055 Ventura Blvd., according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said Hedvat’s office assistant, Nikravan Hormuz, sold the narcotics to the agent in the parking lot of the clinic on Aug. 8. At the time, Hedvat was free on his own recognizance and facing a 10-count indictment charging him with unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance, including hydrocodone, suboxone and clonazepam, prosecutors said. Hormuz, 70, pleaded not guilty. If convicted in both cases, Hedvat faces more than 14 years in prison. Hormuz faces up to five years in county jail. Valley Village A three-year-old apartment building in Village Village has sold for nearly $6.9 million. The 12-unit building at 5056 Laurel Canyon Blvd. was purchased by Venture One LLC from Laurel Heights LLC of Beverly Hills, just two years after it was constructed. The fully leased building includes a mix of three- and four-bedroom townhome-style units, with 2,000-square-foot and larger floor plans. Woodland Hills The contracts of two of Talon International Inc.’s top executives have been extended. Lonnie Schnell, chief executive of the Woodland Hills zipper maker, and President Larry Dyne had their executive employee agreements extended through the end of 2016, with an option through 2017. Schnell and Dyne will be entitled to receive an incentive cash bonus this year, which could amount to up to 100 percent of base salary, based on certain performance metrics. Burbank Walt Disney Co. is selling 23 of its Radio Disney stations and laying off about 200 employees as it moves to digital distribution of its radio content. The Burbank entertainment and media company will keep ownership of KDIS-AM (1110) in Los Angeles, the flagship station of Radio Disney, and continue to distribute its content through affiliated radio stations. But the deal effectively ends Disney’s interest in owning terrestrial radio. The layoffs will be done at the local radio station level and in ad sales and operations. Expanding private membership airline Surf Air has ordered 15 new Pilatus PC-12 aircraft in a deal valued at $65 million. Surf, with its main hub at Burbank Bob Hope Airport, will finance the aircraft with a $65 million loan from White Oak Global Advisors LLC in San Francisco. The company has options on another 50 aircraft to be delivered over five years. Surf offers an “all you can fly” model for $1,599 a month with flights from the Los Angeles area to Santa Barbara, San Carlos, and Las Vegas. The company has more than 900 members. Glendale DineEquity Inc. plans to refinance $1.4 billion of debt and credit, as the company looks to take advantage of low interest rates. The Glendale operator of Applebee’s and IHOP restaurant chains will refinance about $761 million of senior notes and a $464-million senior secured credit facility. The old debt carried a 9.5 percent interest rate while the majority of the new debt was refinanced at 4.27 percent. The company expects to save $50 million in annual interest payments. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. has appointed Fazal Merchant as chief financial officer. Merchant, 41, will begin in the role at the Glendale animation studio on Sept. 15. Merchant has an extensive background in finance, working as managing director and group head at the Royal Bank of Scotland and a managing director in the Investment Banking Division of Barclays Capital. His most recent position was as chief financial officer of DIRECTV Latin America. The appointment comes after the previous chief financial officer, Lew Coleman, transitioned to vice chairman of the company. Sherman Oaks More than a year after selling its landmark Sherman Oaks office building, Sunkist Growers Inc. will begin moving to its new home in Santa Clarita in September. The 120-year-old citrus growers’ cooperative will move into LNR Entrada Gateway Center at 27770 N. Entertainment Drive, which it bought for about $22 million last summer. The cooperative sold its 8.3-acre campus at 14130 Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks to residential developer IMT Capital Inc. for about $36 million in February 2013. The move to Santa Clarita will occur in phases but Sunkist did not release a timetable. Van Nuys Superior Industries International Inc. announced preliminary results indicate the company’s slate of candidates will be elected to the board of directors. The Van Nuys manufacturer of aluminum car wheels is engaged in a proxy battle with GAMCO Asset Management Inc., a New York fund run by billionaire Mario Gabelli. GAMCO, the company’s largest institutional shareholder, proposed a slate of three new directors. In proxy materials, GAMCO maintained that the Superior board didn’t understand how to create value for shareholders, and its slate of three finance experts could boost financial returns. – Santa Clarita Valley Valencia MannKind Corp. has signed a $925 million agreement with French drug company Sanofi to market and sell is Afrezza inhalable insulin worldwide. Under the long-awaited deal, the Valencia biotech will manufacture Afrezza at its plant in Danbury, Conn., while the Paris-based drug company will take responsibility for marketing and regulatory compliance. MannKind will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and milestone payments up to $775 million, based on sales. Sanofi and MannKind will share profits and losses on a global basis, with Sanofi retaining 65 percent and MannKind receiving 35 percent. The two companies plan to launch Afrezza in the United States during the first quarter of 2015. – Conejo Valley Thousand Oaks Amgen Inc. announced poor trial results for its $10 billion drug Kyprolis. The company disclosed that Phase III trials for the myeloma treatment Kypolis did not show the drug led to superior survival rates among patients with relapses or who did not respond to previous treatments. Myeloma cancer affects the plasma cells. However, the drug has performed well in other trials. Kypolis was acquired by Amgen last year when it paid $10.4 billion for Onyx Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco. With many of Amgen’s legacy drugs expected to face stiff competition from so-called “biosimilar” versions by rival firms, analysts have said Kyprolis is important to the company’s growth. – Simi Valley Simi Valley Mobile device accessory developer Tylt opened global headquarters in Simi Valley. The company occupies 60,000 square feet at 685 Cochran St. for its marketing, product development and sales teams. Tylt shares the building with Technocel, its parent, a developer and distributor of mobile device accessories. The new headquarters has about five times the space of Tylt’s previous Simi Valley offices. The company plans to hire about 40 additional workers in the coming months. Technocel also has offices in Chicago, London and Hong Kong. – Around the Valleys To be considered for publication, submissions should be emailed to [email protected]. 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