Bluebird Bio, a US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company which uses gene therapy, closed its initial public offering (IPO) on June 24, selling 6.8 million shares (including 0.9 million shares purchased by the underwriters) priced at $17 per share, for a total of $116.1m. After underwriting discounts and commissions of $1.19 per share, Bluebird’s shares were priced at $15.81, raising $108m for the company.
Bluebird had planned to offer 5 million shares at between $14 and $16 each. Its shares closed at $26.91 at the end of their first day of trading on 19 June.
J.P. Morgan and BofA Merrill Lynch acted as joint book-running managers for the offering. Cowen and Company acted as lead manager and Canaccord Genuity and Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences acted as co-managers.
Bluebird Bio posted a $6.5m net loss on $1.1m of revenue in the first three months of 2013.
Bluebird Bio has raised around $130 million in VC funding, from Third Rock Ventures (28.1% pre-IPO stake), TVM Capital (14.3%), Fidelity Investments (11.8%), Arch Venture Partners (10.6%), Capital Research & Management Co. (9.2%), Forbion Capital Partners (7.4%), Deerfield Partners, RA Capital, Ramius Capital Group and Shire PLC.
In August 2012, Bluebird Bio raised $60m in a Series D financing round, backed by UK and US-listed pharmaceutical company Shire, which owns less than 5%. Financial investors Arch Venture Partners (10.6%), Third Rock Ventures (28.1% pre-IPO stake), TVM Capital (14.3%), Fidelity Investments (11.8%), Capital Research & Management Co. (9.2%), Forbion Capital Partners (7.4%), Deerfield Partners, RA Capital and Ramius Capital also invested.
The close of the round raised the total venture investment in Bluebird to more than an estimated $125m. Boston-based life science investor Third Rock, Netherlands-based life science investor Forbion, Munich-based venture firm TVM, and NY-based investment group Easton Capital all participated in a $35m Series B funding in March 2010 and a $30m venture round in April 2011. They were joined by corporate venture capital fund Genzyme Ventures, the venture unit of pharmaceutical company Genzyme Corporation, and venture firm ARCH Venture Partners in the separate rounds respectively.
Bluebird in its regulatory filing said Sanofi/Genzyme and Shire had made “equity investments of $8m in the aggregate in our company, and we have partnered with Celgene Corporation in the field of oncology”