Costa Mesa’s Ceradyne secures contract with U.S....

Costa Mesa’s Ceradyne secures contract with U.S.

With the country on the verge of war with Iraq, Costa Mesa

ceramics manufacturer Ceradyne Inc. has secured a $3.7-million

contract from the U.S. Army for insert armor to protect against small

arms.

Ceradyne, which trades on Nasdaq as CRDN, announced the contract

on Thursday.

The company will provide the military with ceramic body armor,

which is about half as heavy as metallic armor. The Pentagon is in

the process of making the U.S. military quicker, lighter and more

lethal.

Ceradyne’s body armor weighs between 16 to 18 pounds. The ceramic

materials that not only stop a bullet, but also dissipate the

bullet’s energy so a soldier’s chest is uninjured.

“Ceradyne is committed to redirecting its efforts on a priority

basis to assure our soldiers have the finest protection available,”

Chief Executive Joel Moskowitz said. “Recent input to Ceradyne from

the military indicates that lightweight ceramic armor is directly

responsible for saving American lives in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo

and the Middle East.”

Ceradyne said they would get the armor to the Army’s Defense

Supply Center in Philadelphia by April. CRDN closed Friday at $9.83,

down 72 cents, or 6.8%.

ARV Assisted Living enters merger agreement

A privately held assisted living company said Thursday that it

would press forward with its $4 per share buyout offer to Costa

Mesa-based ARV Assisted Living Inc.

In November, ARV, which trades on the American Stock Exchange

under SRS, turned down a buyout offer from Summerville Senior Living

Inc., based in San Ramon, Calif.

On Jan. 3, ARV announced it had entered a merger agreement with

Prometheus Assisted Living, its largest shareholder. Non-Prometheus

shareholders are set to receive $3.90 per share.

“We are very disappointed to learn that ARV agreed to a

transaction with Prometheus Assisted Living that provides less value

to the shareholders of ARV,” Summerville President and Chief

Executive Granger Cobb said in a Jan. 9 letter to ARV.

Summerville is principally owned by Apollo Real Estate Funds. SRS

closed Friday at $3.84, off 1 cent.