To: Dan Hamilton who wrote (81 ) 6/3/1998 3:52:00 PM From: Stang Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 500
WORLD HEART CORPORATION ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF SALE OF SPECIAL WARRANTS OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, June 3 /CNW/ - World Heart Corporation (''WorldHeart'' or the ''Corporation'') announces that it has completed the previously announced sale on a private placement basis, through Midland Walwyn Capital Inc. and ScotiaMcleod Inc. as agents, of 2,093,000 special warrants (''Special Warrants'') at a price of $6.80 per Special Warrant, for gross proceeds of approximately $14.2 million. The Special Warrants are exercisable without additional consideration for 2,093,000 common shares of the Corporation. Prior to the exercise of the Special Warrants, WorldHeart has 10,150,000 common shares issued and outstanding. Proceeds of the private placement are being held in escrow and will be released to the Corporation subject to meeting certain conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval to list WorldHeart's common shares on The Toronto Stock Exchange. The Special Warrants and the underlying common shares will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons unless an exemption from such registration is available. WorldHeart intends to use the proceeds from this private placement towards funding initial production, clinical trials and the commercialization of its HEARTSAVERvad(TM), the first pulsatile ventricular device that is fully implantable in the human chest. It is anticipated that the total funds available following completion of the private placement will be sufficient to conduct the business of the Company, including clinical trials in Canada, through the year 2000. WorldHeart is a medical devices business focused on commercialization of artificial heart and related technologies for which the worldwide rights were acquired from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. The continuing research and development of these technologies is carried out under contract to WorldHeart by the Cardiovascular Devices Division of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Research Corporation, an affiliate of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. WorldHeart is a public company whose stock trades on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market (ticker symbol: WHRTF) and the Canadian Dealing Network (ticker symbol: WHRT). Any forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbour 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 Company'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. -30- For further information: Sandy Armstrong, Media and Public Relations, World Heart Corporation, Tel.: (613) 226-4278, Fax: (613) 226-4744, E-Mail: sarmstrong@worldheart.com