Private funds to invest $22 mln in merger of Aegerion and QLT

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: AEGR) and QLT Inc (NASDAQ: QLTI, TSX: QLT) have agreed to merge. The deal, which will see Aegerion form part of an indirect affiliate of QLT, will result from a shares exchange. Following the proposed merger's close, expected by the end of the third quarter, a new Vancouver-based biopharmaceutical company called Novelion Therapeutics Inc will emerge. A syndicate of hedge funds and other private investors has agreed to facilitate the deal by purchasing about $22 million in shares of QLT common stock. They include Broadfin Capital, Deerfield, JW Asset Management and Sarissa Capital.

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