Drug development company Acelyrin Inc. recently saw a modest increase in its stock price after announcing the adoption of a shareholder rights plan in connection with an unsolicited offer from Concentra Biosciences and Tang Capital Partners, its controlling shareholder.
Acelyrin, based in Agoura Hills, saw an increase in share price of just above 2% from the closing price of $2.69 on March 13 to a close of $2.75 on March 14. The company announced the plan, also known as a poison pill, on March 13.
The rights plan is effective immediately and will expire on March 12 of next year.
The unsolicited offer, received on Feb. 20, sent Acelyrin’s share price up by nearly 20% from a close on Feb. 20 of $2.17 to a close of $2.60 the following day. Concentra in San Diego offered to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Acelyrin for $3 per share in cash.
Shares closed at $2.77on March 20.
Proposed merger with Alumis
The offer came about two weeks after Acelyrin and Alumis Inc. in South San Francisco announced an agreement to merge in an all-stock transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to approval by the stockholders of both companies.
The combined company will operate under the Alumis name with its corporate headquarters remaining in South San Francisco.
Martin Babler, chief executive of Alumis, said that his company and Acelyrin together will “advance breakthroughs for patients and drive long-term value for stockholders”by creating a “leading” clinical stage biopharma company in immune-related diseases.
“The combined company will have a significantly strengthened financial position to support a highly differentiated and diverse pipeline with multiple catalysts,” Babler said in a statement. “With our management team’s successful track-record of developing innovative therapies and an extended runway afforded by combining with Acelyrin, the transaction will allow us to unlock the value of the combined portfolio for current and future investors and address what we believe is a current dislocation with our valuation.”
Acelyrin Chief Executive Mina Kim said that the company’s board is confident that the all-stock deal with Alumis maximizes long-term value for its shareholders and continues to recommend that they support the planned merger.
“We chose to enter into the merger agreement with Alumis after a comprehensive assessment of strategic alternatives and believe this is the best outcome for Acelyrin stockholders,” Kim said in a statement.
In a March 4 release, Acelyrin said its board of directors believed that the unsolicited indication of interest from Concentra and Tang Capital “is not reasonably expected to result in a superior proposal to the planned merger with Alumis Inc.”
Guggenheim Securities LLC in New York served as financial adviser to Acelyrin and Paul Hastings LLP in downtownand Fenwick & West LLP in Mountain Viewwere its legal counsel.
Acelyrin’s lead drug in development is lonigutamab, a subcutaneously delivered monoclonal antibody being studied for the treatment of thyroid eye disease.
When Nic Halverson was an electrical engineering student at UC San Diego studying for his midterms, he roamed through eight floors of occupied tables and couches at the librarybefore giving up and heading out.
“I wish I knew how busy every floor was before I came,” he said.
That was the inspiration behind Occuspace, a Westlake Village-based proptech startup that raised $6 million in series A funding, the company announced today. The round was led by Lewis & Clark Ventures, with additional funding from the likes of Newport Beach-based Okapi Ventures, Cove Fund, Hamilton Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
An Occuspace device.
Occuspace began in 2017 as a project between then-students Halverson and Linus Grasel. The pair constructed sensors that could plug into any electrical outlet and connect to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to track foot traffic into their school libraries, gyms and other public spaces and a corresponding app.
Born on social media
When the pair announced their invention on Facebook, it received 10,000 downloads from students and faculty.
But the data Occuspace collects has much larger implications for real estate development – space planners can better optimize how to use different rooms, employers can determine the peak occupancy hours for employees, janitorial staff don’t have to check desks or offices that are unused and building managers can reduce energy consumption where necessary.
“I can shrink my million square feet down to 500,000 or 600,000 square feet with no impact on people being able to actually come into the office and use their desks,” Halverson said.
Dennis Chernov is one of the top producing agents at The Agency, a Beverly Hills boutique brokerage firm.
Chernov, who specializes in luxury home sales in the San Fernando Valley, joined The Agency in 2022 after 13 years at Keller Williams Realty Studio City. Last year, he sold over $330 million worth of homes in L.A.
How did you get your start in real estate?
I entered the world of real estate at just 16 years old as a telemarketer for a lending company. I quickly grew into a top loan officer and, by the age of 20, I was running a large mortgage brokerage.
When the 2008 recession hit, I transitioned to Keller Williams full-time as a real estate agent, embracing the challenges of the market and solidifying my career.
Within Los Angeles, which neighborhoods are you most passionate about and why?
Having grown up in the Valley, my heart is truly here. I specialize in neighborhoods like Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Encino, along with the surrounding areas. These communities have an incredible mix of charm, luxury and livability, making them some of the most desirable in Los Angeles.
What excites you most about a home?
A home is more than just a place to live – it’s where life happens. It’s where families gather, where memories are made and where every day begins and ends. Beyond that, I have a deep appreciation for new developments.
How did 2024 compare to other years for you?
The 2024 Los Angeles real estate market was a blend of challenges and opportunities. High interest rates, Measure ULA, low inventory and uncertainty surrounding the elections all played a role, yet the market remained resilient.
Turnkey properties continued to sell quickly, while modern and new-construction homes in Sherman Oaks, Encino and Studio City saw strong demand. In the luxury sector, high-end homes in Beverly Hills, Bel Air and the Westside moved – though only when priced correctly.
Overall, 2024 was a dynamic and competitive year, (in which) pricing strategy and marketing were more crucial than ever in achieving a successful sale.
It’s been almost two years since Measure ULA first went into effect. How would you say it’s impacted the landscape of Los Angeles real estate?
Measure ULA has significantly reshaped the Los Angeles real estate market, particularly in the luxury and new development sectors. We’ve seen a noticeable slowdown in high-end sales as many luxury homeowners and investors have opted to delay selling or structure deals creatively to minimize tax exposure.
The impact on new construction has been just as pronounced – many developers have pivoted to smaller projects under $5 million or are shifting their investments outside of Los Angeles. The overall effect has been a reduction in high-value transactions and a shift in how deals are structured in the city.
Development: A new build in Encino listed for $13 million.
Have the recent Palisades and Eaton fires impacted your personal portfolio? Are you seeing a rise in sales or leases because of them?
While our listings are primarily based in the Valley and the Westside, meaning we weren’t directly impacted, the recent fires have certainly caused market shifts.
There has been a surge in lease activity, with displaced homeowners urgently seeking housing. Additionally, some buyers are now prioritizing properties in lower-risk areas, which has driven demand in safer neighborhoods.
The fires have reinforced the importance of location and environmental considerations in today’s real estate decisions.
What are your expectations for 2025?
I anticipate 2025 will remain a competitive market, with shifts influenced by economic and environmental factors. For sellers, the outlook remains positive but strategic pricing and marketing will be more important than ever. If the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, we could see a wave of buyers reentering the market, increasing demand. Additionally, with wildfires displacing homeowners, we may see heightened activity in both the rental and purchase markets.
What’s your favorite part of being an agent?
Without a doubt, winning for my clients. There’s nothing more fulfilling than negotiating the best deal and making their real estate dreams a reality.
Beyond that, it’s the relationships I’ve built along the way. Real estate isn’t just about transactions – it’s about connections, trust and lifelong partnerships. That’s what makes this career so rewarding.
Plane: A Southwest aircraft at LAX. (Photo c/o Los Angeles World Airports/Jacob Brosseau)
Southwest Airlines Co.’s woes hit all four airports serving Los Angeles County in January, sending the total passenger count down 3% to less than 6.7 million. The Dallas-based air carrier has had to repeatedly trim its flight schedules as it has grappled with an acute shortage of Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
Crystal City, Virginia-based Boeing Co. had initially agreed to deliver nearly 80 of the aircraft to Southwest last year but ultimately delivered around 20 of the aircraft. Boeing faced production delays, a worker strike and fallout from a door-sized panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines Max plane in January of last year. Expectations for 2025 deliveries are also being scaled back.
Southwest made up some of the shortfall by keeping older planes in service longer, but had to cut its overall number of flights.
Locally, these moves resulted in fewer Southwest flights and fewer Southwest passengers at all four airports serving Los Angeles County: Los Angeles International, Ontario International, Hollywood Burbank and Long Beach. Because Southwest is the largest air carrier by passenger volume at the three regional airports and a major carrier at LAX, these cutbacks had a significant effect on the overall passenger tallies at the airports. Southwest handled just over 1 million passengers at the four airports in January, down 17% from the same month last year.
Long Beach, LAX hardest hit
The impact was most acutely felt at Long Beach Airport, where Southwest is so dominant that it accounts for just under 90% of all passengers. A spokeswoman for the airport confirmed that Southwest’s cutting of flights due to “aircraft supply constraints” was the main factor in the airport’s 8.3% drop in passengers in January, the largest percentage drop of the four airports.
LAX saw both the largest numeric drop (nearly 109,000) and percentage plunge (21%) in Southwest passengers. This drop compounded LAX’s already existing woes that intensified throughout last year, especially in domestic passenger counts. For January, the total of 3.58 million domestic passengers at LAX was down more than 5% from the same month last year. International passenger traffic eked out a gain of less than 2%. Overall, the passenger tally was down 3%.
Hollywood Burbank Airport posted a drop of more than 6% in passengers in January, again largely due to a 20% plunge in the number of passengers that Southwest carried.
Ontario sees growth
Ontario International was the least impacted airport of the four and it was the only one to post a gain in passengers. Southwest, which accounts for just over one-third of passengers at the Inland Empire airport, saw a drop of 7%. While a comparatively small drop, it helped keep a lid on the explosive passenger growth the airport has seen over the past three years as the growth rate slowed to just over 1%.
Nonetheless, Ontario International in January recorded 20% more passengers than in January of pre-pandemic 2019 and remains near record-high territory. That helps explain why administrators were upbeat about January’s results.
Cargo results were mixed
Air cargo tonnage handled at the four airports was down nearly 3% in January compared to the same month last year, but the performance was mixed.
About 98% of the nearly 240,000 metric tons of cargo went through just two airports: LAX and Ontario International. LAX, which handles the most cargo, saw a 6% drop, while second-place Ontario saw a gain of nearly 7%.
For much of last year, these airports tracked along with pre-pandemic 2019 cargo levels; January’s results, however, came up more than 3% short of January 2019’s cargo tonnage.
Client: Redeavor runs sales and marketing for Pendry Residences West Hollywood.
Mike Leipart, who led luxury new development sales at The Agency for over a decade, has branched off to start his own real estate firm called Redeavor as part of a strategic departure from the traditional brokerage-led model for new development sales in order to achieve autonomy.
The company plans to specialize in multifamily development sales and value-add deals, advisory services and capital investment. It is backed by a team responsible for over $40 billion in sales volume and 14,000 residences sold.
Redeavor soft launched last year but only recently debuted publicly. Leipart said his team still works with The Agency but is working to create its own identity as a relatively new company.
“The majority of the large national development sales firms in the country are attached to a brokerage, just like me,” Leipart said. “And the reality of it is, that while it on paper looks like we’d be the best partners ever, there’re only so many resources to go around and most companies figured out a long time ago that the more stable business is agents in resale.”
Mike Leipart
Alongside Leipart, Andrew Wachtfogel, Wade Hundley and Shane Farkas serve as Redeavor’s cofounders. Also joining Redeavor at launch are Violet Tudas, Maranda Blanton, Katherine Demakos, Kristin Corsetti and Jenna Marks.
The firm debuted with $4 billion in current global real estate represented and offices in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Nashville. While currently based in Encino, Leipart said he is working on securing a more permanent office in Century City.
“It’s imperative that we have a strong presence on the West Coast and it’s imperative that we have a strong presence on the East Coast,” he said. “And then we will fill in when the opportunities present themselves … We’re working on something in Texas, we love those markets.”
Specializing in value-add deals
While Redeavor does not plan to operate as a development firm pursuing its own construction projects, it does plan to specialize in the takeover of distressed assets, specifically as they relate to condo buildings and luxury multifamily properties.
These can include office to apartment building conversions, finishing up stalled projects or completing renovations.
Redeavor does not plan to operate any of these projects itself and instead plans to reposition and sell.
Leipart said the firm is opportunistic and joked that, in terms of geographical footprint, any market within the U.S. that has at least two professional sports teams is most likely of interest. He pointed out cities such as Denver and Austin to be especially appealing.
In addition to its development sales and marketing line of business, Redeavor plans to offer advisory services to clients and be an originator of both private equity and debt for the creation of multifamily, luxury residential, hotel-branded and urban development projects.
While Redeavor works to build up its real estate portfolio as its own entity, Leipart said he’s most focused on increasing Redeavor’s headcount and expanding team growth first.
“If you add the right people, then you don’t have to worry about marketing. The business follows the people, and my focus is purely on the people,” Leipart said.
A Burbank medical building traded hands for $16.1 million.
A number of medical offices in the San Fernando Valley have traded recently.
In January, CBRE Group Inc. facilitated the sale of the West Valley Medical Portfolio, a series of three medical outpatient buildings totaling 163,000 square feet in West Hills, for an undisclosed sum.
The buildings – which feature tenants such as UCLA Health, Optum, Providence Health and Services, City of Hope, Select Medical, and LabCorp – are each located next to one another and sit on approximately seven acres of contiguous land.
CBRE’s Chris Bodnar, Brannan Knott, Zack Holderman, Cole Reethof, Trent Jemmett and Jesse Greshin – all from the company’s U.S. Healthcare Capital Markets practice – partnered with Angie Weber and Dana Nialis of CBRE’s Southern California Healthcare Advisory and Transaction team to advise the unnamed seller.
“This portfolio represents approximately half of the total medical outpatient building supply on the campus,” Bodnar said in a statement. “These assets are incredibly well positioned and are strategic to the overall delivery of care provided to patients in the region.”
The three buildings are located adjacent to the 260-bed UCLA West Valley Medical Center, which UCLA acquired last year. The portfolio boasted a 94.1% occupancy rate at the time of sale.
Another Valley outpatient medical building to trade within the last few months was a 47,700-square-foot asset in Burbank, which sold for $16.1 million in December.
The eight-story office, which was scooped up by a private investor, boasted a 90% occupancy rate at the time of the sale. It included 33 tenants, each occupying an average of 1,500 square feet of space.
CBRE once again brokered the deal with the following brokers involved: Mark Shaffer, Gerard Poutier, Dyland Rutigliano, Anthony DeLorenzo and Bodnar.
“The opportunity to purchase an outpatient medical building in a fundamentally strong market like downtown Burbank is rare,” Shaffer said. “Burbank is one of the top medical office markets in metro Los Angeles, and this property stands out for its tenant stability.”
According to Shaffer, dentist offices comprise 45% of the building’s occupancy, with most tenants occupying their respective space for over 20 years and some even since the building opened in 1971.
The property has immediate access to the I-5 Freeway and is situated near multiple medical centers, including Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Adventist Health Glendale Hospital and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.
— Brynn Shaffer
Optimal Acquires Recovery Dynamics
Optimal Investment Group, a Sherman Oaks-based private equity firm, recently acquired Recovery Dynamics, a drug and alcohol addiction treatment services provider with headquarters in Hollywood. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As a part of this deal, OIG is exploring add-on acquisitions in the San Fernando Valley and Greater Los Angeles area.
Optimal’s Harris Roth and Joey Separzadeh.
Currently, Recovery Dynamics has an inpatient location in Mid-Wilshire and an outpatient center in Hollywood.
Joey Separzadeh, managing partner at OIG, said the firm was attracted to Recovery Dynamics because it “goes beyond conventional treatment methods by integrating cutting-edge genetic testing and pharmacogenomics into every aspect of care.”
“Our investment reflects our confidence in the company’s vision and operational expertise, and we are committed to providing the resources necessary to help them scale and innovate,” Separzadeh said.
Under OIG’s ownership, Recovery Dynamics will expand its services not only geographically but also in terms of offerings including specialized mental health programs with long-term and holistic elements to treatment.
Harris Roth, partner at OIG, said the firm’s investment in Recovery Dynamics is a part of a larger focus for the firm to “expand access to high-quality behavioral health services.”
In May, OIG acquired Spectrum Behavioral Therapies, a behavioral health company which serves children with autism.
“This new acquisition strengthens our mission to address critical gaps in behavioral health care,” Roth said. “By adding Recovery Dynamics to our portfolio, we are reinforcing our dedication to comprehensive, patient-centered care across the behavioral health spectrum.”
— Kennedy Zak
Teledyne and Micropac Merge
A Teledyne TechnologiesInc. subsidiary recently completed its merger with Micropac Industries Inc.
The Thousand Oaks aerospace, marine and digital imaging products manufacturer originally announced the acquisition in early November and closed on the all-cash deal in late December.
The transaction valued Micropac in Garland, Texas, at $57.3 million, including debt.
“We are delighted to welcome Micropac and its employees to the Teledyne family,” Robert Mehrabian, executive chair of Teledyne, said in a statement.
Then, in February, Teledynecompleted the acquisition of select aerospace and defense businesses from Excelitas Technologies Corp. for $710 million.
The deal includes the optical systems business known under the Qioptiq brand and based in Northern Wales, in the United Kingdom, as well as the U.S. based advanced electronic business.
The acquired business will now be included in Teledyne’s aerospace and defense electronics segment and operate under the name Teledyne Qioptiq.
Mehrabian said that he was pleased to quickly close on this deal, which represents the company’s 10th corporate carve out transaction.
“Teledyne Qioptiq adds new technology and highly complementary products and customers, and we are delighted to welcome this business and its employees to Teledyne,” Mehrabian said in a statement.
— Mark R. Madler
Amgen Drug Price to be Negotiated
An Amgen scientist examines a sample.
Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc.’s Otezla drug to treat forms of psoriasis has been included in the federal government’s second round of price negotiations for popular and expensive drugs under the Medicare Part D program.
The Jan. 17 announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, better known as CMS, is part of the drug price negotiations mandate under the 2021 Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden.
Otezla is one of 15 drugs CMS named for this second round of price negotiations. Among the other drugs are Novo Nordisk’s popular Ozempic and Wegovy medicines indicated for diabetes treatment but also used for weight loss.
In the first round of price negotiations announced in 2023, the drug Enbrel, made by Amgen subsidiary Immunex to treat rheumatoid arthritis, was one of 10 prescription drugs selected.
Last August, CMS reached agreements with the manufacturers of all 10 drugs on lower prices. For Enbrel, the list price of $7,106 was negotiated down to $2,355. (Rarely does any patient pay the full list price thanks to insurance coverage and a myriad of discount programs from drug makers.)
The newly negotiated prices for the 10 drugs in the first round take effect next January.
The financial impact of the lower negotiated prices on the drug manufacturers may not be proportional to the price reductions.
That’s because the new lower prices may result in more prescriptions for the drugs and more frequent use of the drugs once prescribed.
For the second round, the manufacturers have until the end of February to decide whether to participate in negotiations.
— Howard Fine
Talogy launches new product
Talogy, a Glendale-based recruitment and talent management firm, announced a new product offering geared to searching for workers still early in their careers.
Spotlight is an assessment platform meant to help enterprise organizations determine what early-career professionals – who often don’t have much work experience – are capable of doing once they are hired. The assessment is customizable, and Talogy’s consultants work with companies to design questions and situations that are tailored to the company’s goals while introducing interviewees to the company’s brand and ethos.
Spotlight uses assessment techniques like Situational Judgement Testing, a common hiring tool that has come under fire in recent years for its accuracy (or lack thereof) in predicting how new hires will perform on the job.
“With an aging workforce and an increasing trend towards early retirement, attracting, identifying and engaging the right talent is crucial for the ongoing success of an organization,” Ted Kinney, the vice president of research and development at Talogy, said in a statement. “Hiring managers need to think more strategically, looking at both the immediate role that needs to be fulfilled, as well as the impact their recruitment decisions make on the long-term success of the company.”
Adel Villalobos, the chief executive of Lief Labs, at Buon Gusto Ristorante in Mission Hills in January. In front of him is a steak and side salad. Villalobos founded the Valencia-based company in 2008. The company develops and manufacturers vitamins and dietary supplements. (Photo by David Sprague)
Adel Villalobos is the founder and chief executive of a dietary supplement development
and contract manufacturing organization based in the Santa Clarita Valley called Lief Labs. He founded the company in 2008. Villalobos sat down with the Business Journal at Buon Gusto Ristorante in Mission Hills for a power lunch to discuss his career.
How did you get your start in business?
While I was going to school, I worked at Home Depot… the first entrepreneurial itch or intrigue started (because of) this cool friend of mine named Mark. Mark was always talking about starting a business, and we thought he was crazy, but he was fun to hang out with. And he would paint these cool, visionary stories. And I think it was the beginning of getting excited about having your own business… So now I’m getting close to graduating (college), and I now need to get a job in my field, and I got turned down as a forensic scientist at the Sheriff’s Department. I got turned down for pharmaceutical sales because I wanted to do drug development, but a vitamin company that manufactured their own dietary supplements needed to hire somebody who could train their sales force on the benefits of vitamins and minerals. I know that well, so I got the job and I realized not only did I have a knack for it, but I really enjoyed it…Eventually, I worked in the lab. Eventually, I got a job in developing products for consumers. And I really had a passion for understanding consumer health and consumer well-being.
How did you start your first business?
Eventually a friend of mine calls me and says, ‘hey, Adel, let’s start our own manufacturing company.’ And I said, ‘you’re crazy.’ (but) I quit my job, which was a decent job, and now I needed to make money to make ends meet… He says ‘hey, we’re going to manufacture supplements for other companies.’ It turns out that a lot of the brands don’t manufacture their own products… The business lasted about two and a half years, and I ran out of the money that I borrowed. I owed an SBA loan and I owed vendors money, but I didn’t go bankrupt. (I sold.)
What made you want to start Lief Labs?
I was in my mid to late 20s, and I figured I had a knack for it, and I saw what I did wrong. I started a business, and I wanted to be a low-cost leader, but I was too small. I couldn’t compete. I didn’t differentiate myself. The only thing I was going to do is do things at a lower price, which as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, that’s the last thing you want to do. You’ll be beat by established businesses. And I didn’t go bankrupt because I sold it to somebody who was enamored with my passion and my story, and he says, ‘look, Adel, I’ll buy the business. I’ll pay off your debt, you’re not going to get any money, but you got to work for me for the next two years’… I worked for this gentleman for two years. I built him a facility, so my acumen had grown… I said, ‘I’m going to start this again, but I’m going to do things differently.’ I’m a product developer. I help brands develop and ideate products that help consumers take their health matters into their own hands. I empower people to understand that there’s value in increasing their fiber intake, to increasing their protein intake, and so I’m going to start a manufacturing facility. But I realized that I was a product developer first. When I started Lief Labs, I wanted to be different. I’m not a manufacturer. I develop products, and I help you come up with innovative, award winning formulas and products that consumers want to take, and then I manufactured them… (After two years it became) a $2 million company, but I had all the quality certificates of the big ones. That was powerful. I grew every single year, had cash flow every single year for the next 10 to 12 years straight. I grew a company from zero to $100 million in 11 years.
You mentioned differentiating yourself from other firms being key. How did you do this?
We differentiated (the company) by leading with product development, leading with quality and making sure that we cared about the end consumer.
What have been the biggest challenges?
The world doesn’t see the challenges, they only see the successes… 95% of startups don’t get very far. There is real difficulty and complexity in getting a business off the ground, but it’s so rewarding…The first 10 years, if you happen to get past those, there’s a price to pay for that. And I would say it’s the challenges that the sacrifices of not so much time not spent with family, because I did spend time with my kids and family, but it’s really where your mind is during those times, because you’re trying to scale and you’re trying to build what sounds like the impossible…if you’re lucky enough to scale the business, there’s some new lessons there. Just because you scale it to a certain level doesn’t mean it goes on forever.
What’s next for you and the company?
One of my drives is to lead industry. And I happen to be in an industry that I know well, and have done it before, and feel that we have the ability to lead industry… I’d like to use current technology… to lead the industry to higher levels of quality rigors (and) higher levels of innovation. I’d like to embark on a technology journey, one that’ll help us lead the entire industry and bring the industry forward.
Since coming under new ownership, Evite
has been growing its offerings and its revenue.
When Karen Klein joined party invitation platform Evite in 2022, the company was undergoing a significant evolution.
Evite had been around for 24 years at that point, becoming a first mover in the digital invitations space that’s now populated by the likes of Partiful, Eventbrite and Paperless Post. It was once a proprietary eponym, much like Thermos, Kleenex or Xerox.
But the then-downtown-based Evite changed hands often, raising $38 million in funding before it was acquired by Beverly Hills-based Ticketmaster in 2001 and then again by Liberty Interactive in 2010.
By 2020, Evite hadn’t turned a profit. The digital invitations company, which depended on social gatherings, was also facing a crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic that shuttered schools, businesses, concert halls and restaurants.
That’s when now-chief executive David Yeom and George Ruan decided to buy the company. Evite moved into an office space in Glendale, where streamers clinging to the walls, slowly-deflating balloons bobbing about and a well-stocked spirits bar show signs of the various elaborate parties the company throws internally.
“The pandemic was a catalyst for rethinking how people connect and celebrate,” Klein, the executive vice president of product at Evite, said in a statement. “In the post-Covid world, Americans are wanting community and togetherness, and are actually partying much more. As people began to seek more ways to reconnect, especially in 2024, Evite saw an increase in making a celebration out of the everyday events that we missed so much.”
Indeed, parties went up 4% between 2023 and 2024, according to Evite. Younger generations are finding more excuses to party by celebrating what once might have been considered mundane moments. Parties have also become less elaborate, Evite found – a simple potluck, book club meeting or kickback at home is still organized on digital invitations platforms, rather than group chats.
In the black
In November, Evite received a strategic growth investment from Francisco Partners, though the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“It re-solidified our confidence in the vision for the Evite brand as we head into 2025 and beyond,” Klein says.
Under Yeom, Evite lessened its heavy reliance on advertisements under invitations and began using affiliate e-commerce programs that would suggest gifts guests could bring to parties. It developed premium invitations – ad-free invitations that offered more customization in terms of gifting suggestions and template designs and that, according to Evite, garners more RSVPs than their economy product. More than 6 million invitations are sent every year.
The recent rebrand has allowed Evite to achieve profitability for the first time in 26 years. Business revenue at Evite is up 50% year over year and the company says its Instagram content sees 420% more reach than competitors’ social media engagement.
And now 26 years since its founding, the company doesn’t just create digital invitations. It has expanded to support the larger party planning ecosystem by creating sign up sheets for volunteer shifts or potluck dishes, and “party playbooks” – guides complete with themes and decor affiliate links for anything from a Taylor Swift-themed birthday to a nostalgic adult slumber party.
“Over the past 25 years, Evite has grown from a digital invitations platform to a party planning ecosystem that evolves with the needs of Evite’s community as they grow,” Klein says.
GALS LA opened last year. It was built with shipping containers.
Besides being the first all-girls public charter middle school in the San Fernando Valley, the Girls Athletic Leadership School Los Angeles, or GALS LA for short, is gaining notoriety for its new campus – the first and only in Los Angeles County to be built entirely out of recycled shipping containers.
The school opened its doors to students last August after finding a permanent home in Van Nuys following eight years of space sharing in Panorama City. Sitting just under 1 acre, GALS LA acquired the land in 2020 and replaced a residential home.
“We have always set out to be a school that serves the public,” Vanessa Garza, executive director of GALS LA, says, emphasizing its sustainable features. “We want the school to look like the face of Los Angeles.”
Vanessa Garza is the executive director of the GALS LA school.
Made up of 32 recycled shipping containers – 16 on each floor – the school spans 21,300 square feet and includes 17 classrooms, a multipurpose room, a dance room, an office, conference space and a teachers’ lounge.
Each container was stacked modularly – a type of prefabricated and sustainable method of construction where units of a building are made off-site and then assembled on-site. While modular building has gained prominence in recent years due to its less costly and more timely development approach – specifically in the multifamily sector – it’s less commonly used in other types of commercial construction.
“The shipping containers are a more cost effective and faster path to construction. Typically, they’re used in a crisis situation, like a FEMA trailer or for the unhoused or an ADU, like people trying to make their budgets work. Similarly, we wanted to take advantage of that option, but it’s also sustainable,” Garza says. She estimates the choice to proceed with modular design spared the school somewhere between $2 million and $3 million. “They were one-time use containers so we’re keeping them out of the landfill. California is an expensive place to have insurance and they’re safer in fires and earthquakes. There is that advantage and it’s just a way for us to teach the students about sustainability and being stewards of the future. And it’s not just the structure, our whole campus is sustainable.”
GALS LA was built using 32 recycled shipping containers and sits on just under 1 acre.
Sustainable at its core
Beyond its modular design, Garza points out some other environmentally friendly amenities of the campus, including having a rainwater pump irrigation system as opposed to more-wasteful sprinklers, and featuring LED lights in all the classrooms, which use up to 80% less energy than traditional incandescent and fluorescent lights.
“It’s our first year there so I feel like the dividends that we’ll see aren’t fully manifesting yet, but I think it’s just the role modeling (that embodies the school’s values),” Garza says. “I think it’s also reducing the stigma of what shipping containers are used for. I feel like it’s crisis or affordability or it’s looked down on as if you can’t afford to do other types of construction (but) that’s not the case. I don’t believe in greenwashing, so I feel like we’re representing actual sustainable practices.”
But its weight on sustainability isn’t the only unique aspect of the school. In prioritizing holistic learning, GALS LA emphasizes the brain and body connection, meaning every student starts the day with physical education, as well as social-emotional learning, which, according to Garza, requires every student to take a life skills class to challenge the stressors of middle school life.
“Our model of just education is entirely different,” Garza says. “Sure, we’re a single-gender school and there’s many of those in Los Angeles, but we really capitalize on the backdrop of being a single-gender school. Same thing if you’re going to build a school – do it right. Do it for sustainability; be really inclusive about your purpose.”
Looking ahead, Garza hopes to further decrease the school’s ecological footprint by developing an on-campus garden and by adding shaded parking though installing solar panels.
Dennis Prager, nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host, remains among Salem Media Group's biggest radio draws. (Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In an effort to improve its balance sheet and reduce its debt, Camarillo-based conservative content distributor Salem Media Group Inc. recently completed three transactions.
The company said in a release from Dec. 30 that it had repurchased all $159 million of its outstanding senior secured notes due in 2028; issued $40 million of a series of convertible preferred stock; and agreed to sell seven radio stations and enter into a marketing agreement for $90 million.
David Santrella, chief executive of Salem, says that because of these transactions, the company’s ability to service its national ministry partners and listeners has been greatly enhanced.
‘No outstanding debt’
Upon closing of these three transactions, Salem will have transformed and significantly improved its balance sheet and capital structure, Santrella said in a statement.
“With the exception of its revolving line of credit, Salem will have no outstanding debt,” Santrella added. “Salem will also have the benefit of working with an important new strategic investor that is expected to bring significant new opportunities to the company.”
On Dec. 23, Salem repurchased all $159 million of its outstanding 2028 notes, in consideration for payment of $104 million in cash and the issuance of an aggregate of $24 million in subordinated unsecured promissory notes to the holders of the 2028 notes, according to the company’s release.
On that same date, the company sold $40 million in preferred stock to the new strategic investor, Christian Community Foundation Inc., doing business as WaterStone in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
WaterStone’s investment in Salem will be overseen by Rick von Gnechten, the chief operating officer of the nonprofit.
Von Gnechten was appointed to the Salem board in early January.
Also on Dec. 23, the company agreed to sell seven Christian music radio stations, including KFSH-FM in Los Angeles, for $80 million to Educational Media Foundation, the Franklin, Tennessee-based owner of the country’s two largest Christian music radio networks with over 1,000 stations and streaming platforms across all 50 states.
The foundation will begin operating the stations pursuant to an affiliation agreement on or about Feb. 1.
Regarding the sale, Edward G. Atsinger, the company’s executive chair and co-founder, said that it had made a strategic decision to exit the contemporary Christian music format to pay off all of Salem’s long-term debt and he could not be more delighted that the buyer for the seven stations is the foundation.
“EMF has demonstrated over many years a unique ability and dedication to creating and distributing the highest quality Christian music content to its listeners in a positive and encouraging way” Atsinger said in a statement at the time. “I am confident that their impact on listeners and their communities will be incredibly effective.”
In addition to the stations sales, Salem also entered into an advertising and marketing agreement with the foundation for $10 million. The radio stations sale is expected to close in the first half of this year.
One of Salem’s most noteworthy talk show hosts is Dennis Prager, a La Cañada Flintridge resident, whose show airs mornings on KRLA AM 870.
