SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BURBANK This summer travelers can spend time with Elsa, Anna and other characters from the hit animated film “Frozen” on Disney Cruise Lines. Walt Disney Co. in Burbank announced that the seven-night and nine-night voyages to Europe and Alaska will begin June 6 on the ships Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. The ships will be transformed into winter wonderlands to resemble the Kingdom of Arendelle from the movie. Icicles will hang from the staircase, and giant snowflakes and snow-covered rocks will decorate the decks. Guests aboard the Disney Magic to Norway can participate in shore excursions and see the scenery, architecture and Scandinavian culture depicted in “Frozen,” which has grossed more than $400 million in domestic box office. Entertainment and other attractions inspired by the film will be featured on the “Frozen” cruises. CALABASAS On Assignment Inc. is selling its physician staffing business, Vista Staffing Solutions Inc., for $123 million. The Calabasas staffing company expects the transaction will close in February, with net proceeds between $102 million and $105 million. Vista had 2014 revenue of about $135 million. The buyer is Envision Healthcare, a firm specialized in providing ambulance and emergency room personnel with headquarters in Greenwood Village, Colo. On Assignment plans to use the proceeds for strategic acquisitions, share repurchases, paying down debt and reinvestment in its core business. The managers of a company accused of orchestrating a 13-year-long Ponzi scheme that defrauded nearly 2,000 investors of more than $100 million pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Joel Barry Gillis, 74, operated Nationwide Automated Systems Inc. with Edward Wishner, 76, the company’s vice president. Each pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced March 30 and face up to 80 years each. The Justice Department said the Woodland Hills residents enticed investors to pay about $12,000 each to buy an ATM in exchange for promised annual returns of about 20 percent. Prosecutors said only a few of the ATMs existed and payments to early investors were made not from transaction proceeds at the ATMs but funds from later investors. GLENDALE Insurance brokerage SIU Managers, which specializes in the earthquake market, has been acquired by Alliant Insurance Services Inc. in Newport Beach, as part of a larger, $300 million international insurance deal expected to close next month. The Glendale brokerage is part of QBE US Agencies, three specialty enterprises that comprise the U.S. operations of Sydney, Australia-based QBE Insurance Group Ltd. The three agencies will become part of Alliant’s subsidiary Alliant Specialty Insurance Services. The deal includes a cash payment of $217 million, with the remainder to be paid over the next five years TARZANA A three-building office campus across the street from Providence Tarzana Medical Center has changed hands. The multi-story buildings, totaling 160,300 square feet, were purchased by Sierra Corporate Management Inc. of Anaheim from Moss Group of Encino for $28.6 million. The price amounts to $178 per square foot and was significantly over the asking price. The Moss Group developed the 2.3-acre Tarzana Professional Center in the 1960s. The three buildings, all within walking distance of Ventura Boulevard, are at 18401 Burbank Blvd., 18425 Burbank Blvd. and 18455 Burbank Blvd. The properties were 85 percent leased at the time the sale. UNIVERSAL CITY Two trade groups representing large hotels in Los Angeles filed for a preliminary injunction to block the city from implementing its law raising hotel wages. The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association asked the court to suspend implementation of the law set to take effect July 1 until a decision is reached on a prior lawsuit alleging that the wage hike improperly disrupts the relationship between labor and employers set forth in federal law. The city ordinance requires an estimated 80 hotels with more than 150 rooms to pay their workers at least $15.37 an hour. The measure would affect at least seven Valley hotels, such as the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City with 489 rooms. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation sent a letter Jan. 26 to Los Angeles County officials asking that the county begin enforcing mandatory condom usage for adult film shoots – or face legal action. The letter from Tom Myers, general counsel for the Hollywood advocacy group, to Los Angeles County Counsel Mark Saladino sets a 30-day deadline for the county to set a permit fee for covering the costs of enforcing the condom law now that the law has passed review by the courts. AHF was the main proponent of Measure B, the ballot initiative approved by voters in November 2012. Vivid Video, in the Cajuenga Pass, led a challenge by the adult industry, which has contended its protocols for testing performers for sexually transmitted diseases are adequate. Mandalay Digital Inc. stock began trading under the ticker symbol “APPS” as the former Cahuenga Pass company settled into its new headquarters in Austin, Texas under the name Digital Turbine Inc. The company, which adopted the moniker of its largest subsidiary, provides an online platform for telecom companies to sell ringtones, songs and other content. It has contracts with more than 20 carriers. Director Rob Deutschman has been named chairman of the board, succeeding former Sony Pictures executive Peter Guber, who remains a director. Bill Stone, the company’s chief executive, has joined the board. CONEJO VALLEY CAMARILLO Hawthorne manufacturer OSI Systems Inc. will vacate its Camarillo plant by April 30 to consolidate operations at its headquarters. The Camarillo facility houses the operations of an OSI unit that designs and manufactures optical sensors and other products for military, aerospace, industrial, health care and homeland security customers. OSI also makes medical monitors and security scanners. Ajay Vashishat, vice president of OSI Systems, said by moving operations to Hawthorne, the division will be closer to customers and the Los Angeles International Airport. OSI inherited the Camarillo location through an acquisition in 2004, and the lease was coming up for renewal. The move will affect 118 Camarillo employees. WESTLAKE VILLAGE Cynvenio Biosystems Inc. signed an agreement giving Thermo Fisher Scientific the right to sell its technology. The Westlake Village company specializes in the development of genetic analysis. Its LiquidBiopsy technology detects rare circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream to diagnose and develop individualized cancer treatments for patients, eliminating the need for a solid tissue biopsy. The technology is currently used only in medical research, not hospitals or clinics. Thermo Fisher, in Carlsbad, makes equipment and supplies for life science research and has annual revenue of $17 billion. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Applied LNG received a $22.5 million loan to construct a liquefier to process liquid natural gas in Midlothian, Texas. The Westlake Village alternative energy company partnered with Texas Capital Bank, a subsidiary of Texas Capital Bancshares Inc., in Dallas, on the loan. The plant will allow Applied LNG to reach customers in the South, Midwest and even the Eastern seaboard. The company currently serves the Southern California market from two liquefiers in Topock, Ariz., on the California border. It operates a fleet of 49 delivery trucks, the second largest in the industry.
