WORLD HEART CORPORATION ANNOUNCES $15.6 MILLION BOUGHT DEAL
OTTAWA, ON, Canada, February 29 /CNW/ - World Heart Corporation
(``WorldHeart' or the ``Corporation') announced today that it has entered
into a ``bought deal' agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by
Yorkton Securities Inc., and including First Associates Investments Inc., to
issue and sell 800,000 Common Shares of the Corporation. The issue has been
priced at Cdn $19.50 per Common Share, for estimated gross proceeds of
$15,600,000, with an option to increase the issue to 850,000 Common Shares
($16,575,000).
The transaction is subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory and
stock exchange approvals and to the execution of definitive documentation.
WorldHeart will be filing a preliminary prospectus qualifying the Common
Shares forthwith. The Common Shares have not been, and will not be registered
under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the ``Act') and
may not be sold or offered for sale in the United States or otherwise
distributed in the United States unless they are registered under the Act or
an exemption therefrom is available.
WorldHeart intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for clinical
trials for its HeartSaverVAD(TM) System and related commercialization
activities. ``This issue will bring our cash reserves to more than $38
million', said Roderick M. Bryden, President and Chief Executive Officer,
``and will fund the Corporation through 2000 and 2001, by which time we expect
to commence commercial production and sale of our HeartSaverVAD(TM) product'.
WorldHeart is a medical devices business focused on commercialization of
artificial heart and related technologies for which worldwide rights were
acquired from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Continuing research
and development of these technologies is carried out under contract to
WorldHeart by the Cardiovascular Devices Division of the Ottawa Heart
Institute Research Corporation, an affiliate of the University of Ottawa Heart
Institute. WorldHeart is a public company whose shares trade on The Toronto
Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: WHT) and the NASDAQ National Market (ticker
symbol: WHRT).
Any forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve
risk and uncertainties, including without limitation, risks in product
development and market acceptance of and demand for the Corporation's
products, risks of downturns in economic conditions generally, and in the
medical devices markets, risks associated with costs and delays posed by
government regulation, limitations on third party reimbursement, inability to
protect proprietary technology, potential product liability and other risks
detailed in the Corporation's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. All financial figures are prepared in accordance with Canadian
generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and are expressed in Canadian
dollars.
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