By Ernest Scheyder
July 15 (Reuters) - U.S. rare earths miner MP Materials said on Wednesday it would go public through a merger with a blank-check company backed by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.
Hedge funds JHL Capital Group and QVT Financial will fold their ownership of MP Materials and its California mine into the special-purpose acquisition company Fortress Value Acquisition Corp FVAC_u.N. Fortress is controlled by Japan's Softbank Group 9984.T.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder)
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