Bluebird Bio Says Ayrmid Failed To Submit Formal Offer, Confirms Carlyle, SK Deal; Stock Fell

(RTTNews) - Bluebird bio, Inc. (BLUE), the Massachusetts based biotechnology company, on Wednesday announced that after three weeks of discussions and an extended deadline Ayrmid Ltd. has not made a formal acquisition offer and has not secured the required funding.

Bluebird said its Board has confirmed the acquisition offer by Carlyle Group, Inc. (CG) and SK Capital Partners, LP. The Board urged all shareholders to accept the current offer by May 2.

On February 21, the company had announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds managed by global investment firms Carlyle and SK, in collaboration with a team of highly experienced biotech executives.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bluebird stockholders would be receiving $3.00 per share in cash and a contingent value right per share, entitling the holder to a payment of $6.84 in cash per contingent value right if Bluebird's current product portfolio achieves $600 million in net sales in any trailing 12-month period prior to or ending on December 31, 2027.

On March 31, the company had confirmed receipt of an unsolicited non-binding written proposal from Ayrmid Ltd.

The proposal was to acquire Bluebird for an upfront cash payment of $4.50 per share, along with a one-time contingent value right of $6.84 per share, payable upon achieving a net sales milestone.

Bluebird gave Ayrmid extra time to submit a formal buyout offer, extending the deadline by four days at Ayrmid's request. However, Ayrmid failed to deliver an offer and admitted that it had not secured the needed funding.

Ayrmid says it is still working on financing and will give an update soon. Ayrmid was also involved earlier in the process before Bluebird's deal with Carlyle and SK Capital was announced.

In the pre-market trading, bluebird bio is 8.05% lesser at $4.11 on the Nasdaq.

In the pre-market trading, Carlyle is 0.22% lesser at $36.89 on the Nasdaq.