– San Fernando Valley Sylmar Tutor Perini Corp. announced its subsidiary Fisk Electric Co. has won an $87 million contract for work on the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco. The Sylmar construction company will install all electrical, communications, safety, fire alarms, security and integrated network systems at the center, owned by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. The train and bus station has a $4.5 billion construction budget and has earned the nickname “Grand Central Station of the West.” The work will begin early next year and should be completed by the end of 2017. Tutor Perini and two joint venture partners also reached an $88.7 million settlement with the state of Massachusetts over litigation on the “Big Dig” project through central Boston. The company is expected to receive payment by the end of the year. The settlement concludes 15 years of litigation between the joint venture, Massachusetts and its transportation department over payment for additional work on the Central Artery-Tunnel Project, also known as the “Big Dig.” The project rerouted and extended urban interstates into a tunnel beneath the city. North Hills PRN Ambulance in North Hills announced it has reached an agreement to merge with Pro Transport-1, a major ambulance operator in Northern California. PRN, which has nearly 60 ambulances in the Los Angeles and Orange County markets, will continue with its trade name and leadership under President Avo Avetisiyan. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Both companies specialize in transporting patients between hospitals. Together, they will have about 225 ambulances. Pro-Transport covers the San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento and the Central Valley. It is based in the Sonoma County city of Cotati. Glendale DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. is delaying the release of one of three films it had scheduled for next year. The Glendale animation studio has not set a new date for “B.O.O.: Bureau of Other Worldly Operations,” which was originally scheduled for release on June 5. DreamWorks also has on its 2015 slate “Home,” an original movie coming out in March, and the sequel “Kung Fu Panda 3,” which has a Christmas release date. DreamWorks last delayed a movie when it pushed back the release date of “Mr.Peabody & Sherman” to this past spring from the fall of last year. Burbank Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced a partnership to distribute programming from World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. starting next year. The division of Warner Bros. Entertainment in Burbank will have the rights to distribute new documentaries, match compilations, collectible titles and pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam. Warner Bros. and WWE had previously collaborated on animation programming combining a wrestling theme with “Scooby Doo” and “The Flintstones.” Walt Disney Co. announced it is making its cloud-based movie streaming service available for film titles purchased at Wal-mart stores or through the retail chain’s VUDU on-demand service. The Burbank entertainment and media giant will allow VUDU accounts to link with Disney Movies Anywhere accounts so viewers can watch 400 live action and animated feature films from Disney, Pixar and Marvel on a variety of digital devices. VUDU works on multiple platforms, including Internet-connected TVs, Apple and Android mobile devices, set-top boxes such as Roku, and PlayStation and Xbox game consoles. VUDU, in Sunnyvale, is a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in Bentonville, Ark. Sherman Oaks Cherokee Inc. announced a partnership to distribute apparel at Reliance Retail Ltd. stores in India. The Sherman Oaks apparel licensor said it is developing a new brand to distribute through Reliance Trends, a specialty apparel-and-accessories chain that Reliance operates. Reliance, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. of Mumbai, is one of the largest retailers in India with nearly 2,000 outlets. Cherokee plans to expand the new brand to other countries. In the last few years, it has expanded globally and now sells its apparel and accessories through retailers in 40 countries, including China, Russia, Israel and Mexico. Woodland Hills SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers in Woodland Hills has been acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a publicly traded company that is the Valley’s leading brokerage. SGB, founded in 1964, provides property, casualty, risk management and employee benefits insurance products and consulting services, specializing in the manufacturing, metals, hardware and commercial real estate industries. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SGB Chief Executive James Scanlon is remaining with the company, which will continue to operate SGB’s Woodland Hills and Camarillo locations. Chatsworth A three-property industrial portfolio in Chatsworth has been purchased for $14.3 million. The buyer, Kids From the Valley XII LLC, a private San Fernando Valley investment group, acquired it last month from 21001 Nordhoff Partners LLC of Chatsworth. Two of the properties were occupied at the time of sale: a 30,000-square-foot building at 9135 Independence Ave. and part of a 79,000-square-foot building at 21001 Nordhoff St. The third property, a 44,400-square-foot flex building at 9131 Independence Ave., will be put on the market for lease. – Conejo Valley Thousand Oaks Amgen Inc. announced the completion of its Next-Generation Biomanufacturing facility in Singapore, which it said would provide a model for future plants. The Thousand Oaks pharmaceutical company said its facility in Tuas is designed to produce biologics, which are chemicals made inside living organisms. The plant has various new technologies, including disposable plastic components and real-time quality analysis, to enable faster manufacturing. Amgen had previously said the 120,000-square-foot plant would cost $200 million. Amgen also said it had ended two clinical studies on the rilotumumab, a novel drug it developed in house that treats stomach cancer treatment when used in combination with standard chemotherapy. A review by a monitoring committee found an increase in the number of deaths for the group of patients using both rilotumumab and chemotherapy compared to the group receiving only chemotherapy. Agoura Hills American Homes 4 Rent announced another securitization that is expected to bring gross proceeds of $528 million. The Agoura Hills real estate investment trust said the bond offering will be backed by rental payments from 4,503 single-family homes. This is the third such securitization the company has announced in six months as the company continues to buy more single-family homes. In September, the company raised $488 million through a securitization and $481 million in May through a similar transaction. – Santa Clarita Valley Santa Clarita California Sen. Barbara Boxer has re-introduced legislation to solve a long-standing dispute over a sand-and-gravel mine in Santa Clarita. Cemex USA, the U.S. division of the Mexican cement company, has a lease with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to mine in Soledad Canyon. The City of Santa Clarita opposes the operation. The Soledad Canyon Settlement Act introduced by Boxer instructs the BLM to cancel Cemex’s mining leases at Soledad Canyon and prohibit future operations at the site. In return, BLM will sell land near Victorville that it has already identified for sale, and use the proceeds to compensate Cemex for the canceled contracts. – Around the Valleys To be considered for publication, submissions should be emailed to [email protected]. Please put ATV in the subject line. For more information, call (818) 316-3123.
