Share-Based Payments

On September 23, 2009, the Company’s board of directors approved the Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc., 2009 Equity Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”). The LTIP provides for grants of restricted common stock, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and other equity-based awards up to an aggregate of 7.5% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock (on a fully diluted basis). The LTIP is administered by the compensation committee of the Company’s board of directors (the “Compensation Committee”) and all grants under the LTIP must be approved by the Compensation Committee.

The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense of $1,576, $3,488 and $3,624 during 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively, related to restricted stock and RSU vesting. The fair value of restricted stock that vested during 2014, 2013 and 2012 was $445, $293 and $717, respectively. The fair value of RSUs that vested during 2014, 2013 and 2012 was $2,729, $2,854 and $1,916, respectively.

The following table summarizes the grants, exchanges and forfeitures of restricted common stock and RSUs during 2014, 2013 and 2012:



	Type	Date	Restricted Stock	RSUs		Estimate Fair Value on Grant Date	Initial Vesting	Final Vesting
Outstanding at January 1, 2012			161,032	402,709

	Forfeiture	February 2012	—	(1,875	)	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Grant	March 2012	—	20,000		310	March 2013	March 2015
	Grant	April 2012	9,584	—		150	July 2012	April 2015
	Grant	August 2012	1,496	—		25	July 2013	July 2015
	Canceled upon delivery	October 2012	—	(112,084	)	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Grant	February 2013	20,000	—		352	December 2013	December 2015
	Grant	February 2013	—	180,000		3,166	December 2013	December 2015
	Grant	April 2013	11,304	—		200	July 2013	April 2016
	Grant	May 2013	—	15,000		264	December 2013	December 2015
	Forfeiture	June 2013	—	(5,000	)	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Canceled upon delivery	July 2013	—	(5,000	)	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Grant	September 2013	—	10,000		154	September 2013	September 2013
	Grant	November 2013	5,000	—		81	December 2013	October 2016
	Canceled upon delivery	January 2014	—	(288,750	)	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Grant	April 2014	8,931	—		150	July 2014	April 2017
	Grant	April 2014	5,000	—		85	July 2014	April 2017
	Canceled upon delivery	April 2014	—	(5,000	)	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Grant	June 2014	—	10,254		169	December 2014	December 2016
	Grant	December 2014	51,767	—		855	December 2015	December 2017
	Grant	December 2014	—	390,000		6,474	December 2015	December 2017

Outstanding at December 31, 2014			274,114	610,254

Below is a summary of restricted stock and RSU vesting dates as of December 31, 2014.



Vesting Date	Shares Vesting	RSU Vesting	Total Awards
January 2015	3,698	—	3,698
March 2015	—	6,667	6,667
April 2015	3,699	—	3,699
July 2015	3,300	—	3,300
July 2015	250	—	250
October 2015	3,300	—	3,300
December 2015	15,588	196,752	212,340
January 2016	3,299	—	3,299
April 2016	3,300	—	3,300
July 2016	2,828	—	2,828
October 2016	2,827	—	2,827
December 2016	12,255	133,417	145,672
January 2017	2,411	—	2,411
April 2017	2,414	—	2,414
July 2017	1,250	—	1,250
October 2017	1,250	—	1,250
December 2017	12,258	130,008	142,266
	73,927	466,844	540,771

At December 31, 2014, the Company had unrecognized compensation expense of approximately $1,301 and $7,735, respectively, related to the vesting of restricted stock awards and RSUs noted in the table above.

RSU Deliveries

During 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively, the Company delivered 240,277, 3,057 and 67,354 shares of common stock for 283,750, 5,000 and 112,084 vested RSUs. The Company allows RSU participants to settle their tax liabilities with a reduction of their share delivery from the originally granted and vested RSUs. The amount, when agreed to by the participant, results in a cash payment to the Manager related to this tax liability and a corresponding adjustment to additional paid in capital on the consolidated statement of changes in stockholders' equity. The adjustments were $876, $31 and $779 in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and are included as reductions of capital increase related to the Company's equity incentive plan in the consolidated statement of changes in shareholders’ equity.