Impac to buy lender in Florida

Diversifying its operations, Irvine-based Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. said Monday that it would acquire the lending arms of Pinnacle Financial Corp. of Orlando, Fla., which has branches in 26 states.

Impac said it would take over the leases on Pinnacle’s offices, but gave no additional financial details. Pinnacle founders Douglas Long and Jeffrey Vratanina are to become managing directors of Impac Home Lending, a newly formed division.

Impac, a real estate investment trust, makes loans through independent brokers and buys them in bulk from other companies. It specializes in “Alternative-A” loans, a category between low-risk prime and riskier sub-prime loans. Most of its borrowers have good credit but do not document their incomes.

Pinnacle makes prime and Alt-A loans directly to consumers, and has a wholesale unit.

Impac Chairman Joseph R. Tomkinson called the deal critical in his push to diversify.

Analyst Richard Eckert at Roth Capital Partners in Newport Beach said diversification was positive news especially if Impac moved away from bulk loan purchases, a low-margin business, and from Alt-A loans.

Eckert said the latter business faced potential regulatory limits and competition from larger thrifts and banks that could operate more efficiently.

Worries over potential loan defaults have pushed Impac shares down 41% this year. The stock rose 12 cents Monday to $5.16 before the announcement.

Impac reported a first-quarter loss of $121.7 million as it wrote down the value of certain derivative securities and recorded a lower gain on loan sales.

scott.reckard @latimes.com