In Brief: Imperial of Calif. Sells Lending Unit Stake

Imperial Bank said it has sold off its remaining stake in Imperial Credit Industries Inc., a high-risk consumer lending unit in Torrance, Calif.

Imperial, which sold its 5.3 million shares at $6 each, said late Tuesday that the transaction would cause a pretax loss of about $2.8 million in the third quarter. Imperial Credit-partially spun off from the bank in 1992-lost $73.6 million in 1998, hurting the bank's earnings.

Norman B. Creighton, vice chairman and chief executive officer at Imperial, said, "This transaction improves our ability to focus on the growth of our core banking franchise and its profitability."

In March, Imperial had tried to sell its entire stake in the subprime consumer lender to Leucadia National Corp. of New York for $9.25 per share. But the deal was aborted after Leucadia learned it would be unable to acquire a larger stake.

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