** Shares of Selecta Biosciences drop 7% to 89 cents after announcing merger with private co Cartesian Therapeutics and private financing deal

** Under deal, Selecta issued to Cartesian shareholders 6.7 mln common shares and 0.38 mln non-voting preferred shares, which are convertible to ~385 mln shares

** SELB also issued 0.15 mln of preferred stock, convertible to 149.3 mln common shares, worth $60.25 million in private financing

** SELB has 153.4 mln outstanding common shares - LSEG

** Co to now be renamed Cartesian Therapeutics and will trade under new ticker RNAC from Tuesday

** Combined co to have $110 mln at close, including from private funding

** 5 of 6 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 1 "hold"; their median PT is $4

** Including session's loss, SELB's stock down 20.4% YTD

(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru)

((Leroy.Dsouza@thomsonreuters.com ; ))