Orange County Business Journal

Irvine Company has sold the One North Wacker building to the family investment firm of Amancio Ortega, the billionaire founder of fashion retailer Zara, the Business Journal has learned. The sale price was not immediately disclosed, though earlier reports placed the transaction at about $500 million. The deal closed on Oct. 13. Eastdil Secured represented Irvine Company in the sale of the 1.4-million-square-foot skyscraper to Ponte Gadea, the Spanish fashion mogul’s family office.

Cerritos-based GEN Restaurant Group said on Wednesday it will sell nearly all restaurant operations to Chubby Cattle Group for $100 million, affecting 47 locations over the next 12 months. The deal marks GEN’s official step away from operating its all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurants to focus on growing its consumer-packaged goods (CPG) business of Korean food products. GEN plans to keep only three of its restaurants — one in Cerritos and two in South Korea.

Costa Mesa-based California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is adding a new line of restaurant-inspired salad kits, in partnership with FiveStar Gourmet Foods, to expand the chain’s retail platform beyond its existing frozen offerings. CPK, best known for its frozen pizzas, aims to launch the new refrigerated products in stores nationwide next year.

Newport Beach-based Evolus Inc. is entering into an option agreement with an undisclosed private company developing an injectable treatment for hair restoration. Evolus will make an initial $1.5 million payment and support development of the treatment and an initial proof-of-concept study, with the option to acquire all assets associated with the program. Development is expected to continue through 2027, with first-in-human clinical trials anticipated to begin afterward.

Swiss dermatology giant Galderma (SIX: GALD) has agreed to acquire Irvine-based ZO Skin Health for $1.5 billion in cash from investors including Blackstone and the Obagi family, the companies announced Wednesday. Founded by dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi, ZO Skin Health sells 40-plus skincare products through a network of more than 16,500 physician, medical spa and online accounts in more than 40 countries.

The era of treating technology as four separate problems is ending. For manufacturers and growing businesses across Southern California, the smarter move is to manage IT, security, compliance, and AI as one strategy — before a deadline or a breach forces the issue. By Shuchipan Sharma, Founder & CEO, TechHeights Walk into almost any mid-sized Orange County company today, and you will find technology managed in pieces. One vendor keeps the network running. Another sells a security tool.

Some of the world’s best beach volleyball players are coming to Blackie’s Beach near the Newport Beach Pier this weekend for the fourth annual Hoag Newport Beach 4-Man Volleyball Invitational. Organizers say the free, two-day event on Oct. 17 and 18 typically draws a few thousand spectators each day.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has reached a $125 million agreement with defendants GKN Aerospace in its civil case against the defense contractor in connection with the company’s May 2026 hazmat accident that forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 Orange County residents. They were required to leave the area surrounding GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems Inc. as a chemical tank containing an extremely hazardous chemical threatened to explode.

Alignment Health Plan, the Medicare Advantage business of Alignment Healthcare Inc., is expanding into four new counties in North Carolina beginning Jan. 1. The Orange-based company will enter Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg and Rowan counties, giving more than 295,000 Medicare beneficiaries access to its plans.

Oct. 13 AEROSPACE Karman Space & Defense (NYSE: KRMN) in Huntington Beach fell 4.7% to $30.40 per share for a market cap of $4 billion, close to a 52-week low. Investor website 24/7 Wall St. said analysts were warning that the “entire space trade is sitting in neutral” waiting for developments from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) was down 2.6% at $64.06 for a market cap of $41 billion.