Edwards Lifesciences to Sell Novacor Unit

Edwards Lifesciences Corp., an Irvine maker of products to treat cardiovascular disease, said Thursday that it has agreed to sell its Novacor unit assets to a Canadian company in an all-stock deal worth $59 million at Thursday’s closing price.

Edwards said in a press release that it will sell the assets to World Heart Corp. for preferred stock amounting to 5 million shares, or about 25%, of the Ottawa company.

Shares of World Health, which makes medical devices to help treat patients with congestive heart failure, dropped 81 cents in trading to close at $11.81 each.

Edwards said it expects to record a pretax gain of $30 million to $40 million when the transaction closes.

Shares of Edwards rose 88 cents to close at $17.31 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.