Fortress Will Invest $12 Million in Impac

Impac Commercial Holdings said Friday that it has found a strategic partner to invest in the ailing Newport Beach company. New York-based Fortress Investment Corp. has agreed to pay $12 million for preferred stock that is convertible into a 16% stake in the company. As part of the deal, Fortress will take over day-to-day management of the real estate investment trust, which buys and sells commercial mortgages. Impac Commercial has been struggling with losses since last fall, when the commercial mortgage market got caught in a credit squeeze. The company lost $220,000 during the first quarter of the year and laid off nearly 70% of its staff. Four of Impac Commercial’s five board directors resigned as part of the Fortress investment. They have been replaced by two Fortress executives, Wesley Edens and Robert Kauffman, and one independent director. Joe Tomkinson, who helped found Impac Commercial in 1997, will step down as chief executive officer but remain on the board.