"What would make a investor invest at that valuation and not go and just buy 1.5 million share instead." - Mac
If an investor went out and bought shares of NAVB at market it wouldn't raise one dollar for Macrophage Therapeutics. This capital raise will specifically provide the seed money that will result in the spin-off of MT.
The investors who will be funding this (Mike Goldberg, Platinum, et al) believe MT contributes value today equivalent to a $500 million market cap for NAVB, or almost $3.00 a share. They're willing to put up their own cash based on those valuations. Like I said, they are believers...
DDbuyer