Bluebird Bio Prices Public Offering Of 3 Mln Shares At $34 Per Share

(RTTNews) - bluebird bio, Inc. ( BLUE), a clinical-stage company focusing on gene therapies for genetic and orphan diseases, Tuesday announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 3 million shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $34 per share, before underwriting discounts.

bluebird bio has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 450,000 shares of common stock.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Cowen and Company and Citigroup are acting as joint book-running managers of the proposed offering.

Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey are the co-managers.

The offering is expected to close by July 14.

bluebird bio expects the aggregate net proceeds from the offering to be around $95.6 million, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses, but excluding any exercise of the underwriters' option.

The company intends to use the net proceeds of this offering primarily to advance its clinical studies in childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy or CCALD, beta-thalassemia major and sickle cell disease.

The balance will be used for general and administrative expenses, potential future development programs, early-stage research and development and other general corporate purposes.

BLUE closed down 8.7 percent on Tuesday at $34.35. The stock added 1.9 percent in the extended trade.