Timeline

Jan. 13 Toy Fight Isaac Larian and his MGA Entertainment Inc. renews a legal fight with Mattel Inc. After winning a long battle over the rights to the popular Bratz line of dolls, the Van Nuys company filed a Jan. 13 L.A. Superior Court lawsuit accusing the El Segundo maker of the Barbie doll of stealing secrets at trade shows around the world. Feb. 10. Exotic Listing The owners of the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in Saugus put the nearly 100-acre property up for sale at $7.5 million, half the previous listing. “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Iron Man” and other prominent productions have been filmed there. The speculation is runaway production may have lowered the price of the ranch which features an Afghan village set. Feb. 24. Bye Bye Burbank KNBC-TV Channel 4 moves from its longtime home at the NBC Studios in Burbank to a state-of-the-art production facility on the Universal Studios lot that features 27 on-air monitors and 308 miles of fiber optic cable. Comcast Corp. has been investing in local news operations since acquiring NBCUniversal in 2011, and built new studios in Philadelphia and Dallas too. March 24 New Media Deal Walt Disney Co. beats out a competing bid by Beverly Hills production company Relativity Media and buys Maker Studios for $500 million in cash and up to $450 million in earn-out fees. The Culver City-based multichannel YouTube network features a wide variety of entertainment programming, including music videos, comics and celebrities. It accumulates more than 5 billion views each month. March 27 Big Gift The business school at Cal State Northridge is renamed after alumnus David Nazarian, who donates $10 million. The Los Angeles investor also is leading a campaign to raise an additional $15 million. The money will improve resources and technology at the school. Nazarian said his motivation was to strengthen education for the middle class. April 1 FDA Decision Shares of MannKind Corp. stock more than double after an FDA panel recommends approval of its Afrezza insulin inhaler, in development by the Valencia company and its founder Alfred Mann for more than a decade. The FDA follows the panel’s advice and in June approves the drug with some warnings. MannKind later reaches deals to manufacture and sell the drug worldwide. April 14 Global Challenge A Woodland Hills environmental group files an L.A. Superior Court lawsuit against Burbank for approving what would be the nation’s largest Ikea store. The group claims the environmental review did not adequately consider how to mitigate the 470,000-square-foot store’s effect on global warming. The group later withdraws the lawsuit after the city agrees to review its handling of future development. May 12 Doubling Down Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. submits a new drug application to the FDA for approval of its novel treatment to eliminate chin fat. The Calabasas company has spent seven years in clinical trials for ATX-101, an injectable acid that reduces double chins and is designed to replace cosmetic surgery. In July, the agency accepts the application and says it expects to make a decision next year. June 16 On Board The Valley Industry & Commerce Association forms Valley on Track, a group to spearhead a campaign to build three light rail lines in the San Fernando Valley: one in place of the existing Orange Line busway, a north-south line connecting Sylmar and Van Nuys, and a tunnel beneath the Santa Monica Mountains to the Westside. July 1 Fire Sale Sport Chalet Inc. is acquired and taken private by Vestis Retail Group for $1.20 a share, or $17 million plus accumulated debt. The La Canada Flintridge sporting goods retailer had struggled during the recession following an ill-timed expansion during the housing boom. Vestis, in Meriden, Conn., also owns sporting goods retailers Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports. July 28 Checking In Word leaks that Century City real estate company Laurus Corp. is in negotiations to buy the Warner Center Marriott from the Teachers Retirement Fund of Illinois. Laurus had already acquired 10 hotels nationwide amid a rebound in the hospitality sector. The deal for the 474-room hotel later closes at a price of $90 million, about $5 million more than the retirement fund had paid 11 years earlier. Aug. 7 Open For Business The Outlets at Tejon Ranch, a discount mall off the 5 Freeway at the bottom of the Grapevine, opens with 70 shops, including a Pottery Barn and H&M. The 320,000-square-foot center is part of a master plan by publicly traded Tejon Ranch Co. to develop parts of its historic 422-square-mile property that spans Los Angeles and Kern counties. Aug. 12 Signing Off Walt Disney Co. decides to sell off 23 of its Radio Disney stations and lay off about 200 employees amid declining radio listenership. Disney is keeping flagship KDIS-AM (1110) in Burbank, with content available on satellite, online and though mobile apps. The network, founded in 1996, has been a critical element of the company’s strategy to develop new music stars. Aug. 16 Not So Mighty The Colossus wooden roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain closes down after 36 years. A few weeks later a welder taking apart the structure ignites a fire causing significant damage. The Valencia amusement park says the fire will not delay plans to convert the historic coaster into a hybrid wood-and-steel coaster to open next summer. Sept. 8 Cashing Out The Business Journal reports that Alfred Mann is selling off the Mann Biomedical Park in Valencia and the Sylmar Biomedical Park, to Intertex Cos. in Valencia, with financial backing from L.A. investment firm Oaktree Capital Management. The sale is completed in November for $100 million, according to industry sources. It is expected the buyers will expand the Valencia park. Sept. 27 In Play SoftBank Corp., a Tokyo company that owns cell carrier Sprint Nextel, makes a $3.4 billion offer for DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. The deal goes nowhere, as does a second offer by toymaker Hasbro Inc. weeks later. The apparent sticking point is a demand for $35 a share by DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg despite a series of box office bombs by the Glendale studio. Oct. 13 Coming to Town The Burbank City Council approves the Talaria at Burbank mixed-used development for a property in the Media District that was the site of a failed earlier proposal. A church, popular karaoke bar and several apartment buildings are being razed to make way for the Cusumano Real Estate Group project of 241 upscale apartments and a Whole Foods grocery store. Oct. 31 Aviation Disaster SpaceShipTwo, a commercial space plane developed by Virgin Galactic, crashes after takeoff from the Mojave Air & Space Port. Pilot Peter Siebold makes a miraculous escape but co-pilot Michael Alsbury dies. Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson vows to continue the venture, designed to take passengers into near space to experience weightlessness. The crash is still under investigation. Nov. 24 Labor Deal Kinkisharyo International reaches an agreement to build light rail cars in Palmdale for the county’s Metro transit agency after threatening to take the work out of state over a labor and environmental dispute. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti worked behind the scenes to broker a deal between the Japanese company and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 11 and other groups. Dec. 10 Seeing Profits Shares of Second Sight Medical Products Inc. – the latest Alfred Mann company to go public – settle down after a smash Nov. 19 IPO that saw the stock more than double to $19.97. The $36.2 million offering will fund further development of its artificial eye, already sold in Europe for around $100,000. Shares closed at $14.94 on Dec. 10, valuing the company at $517 million.