Once high-flying Bluebird Bio sells itself to private equity after tough times for the gene therapy maker

Bluebird Bio will sell itself to private equity firms Carlyle and SK Capital for about $30 million, the company said Friday, marking the end of the Bluebird’s fall from the one of the buzziest biotech firms to one that was on the cusp of running out of money.

Bluebird’s shareholders will receive $3 per share with the possibility of getting another $6.84 a share if Bluebird’s gene therapies reach $600 million in sales in any 12-month period by the end of 2027. Bluebird shares closed at $7.04 on Thursday. They fell 40% on Friday after the company announced the sale.

For more than thirty years, Bluebird has been at the forefront of creating one-time treatments that promised to cure genetic diseases. At one point, Bluebird’s market cap hovered around $9 billion as investors bought into the idea that the company could find success with its gene therapies. It’s fallen under $41 million after the company faced several scientific setbacks, separated its cancer work into another company and fell into financial despair.

The turning point came in 2018, when Bluebird...