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Co files for bankruptcy to facilitate sale

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Co-founder, CEO Wojcicki quits after many failed buyout bids

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Wojcicki says to bid for the company in bankruptcy process

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Co gets financing commitment of up to $35 million

(Adds CEO's plan for takeover bid in paragraph 3, bullet 3)

By AnushaDevan Shah and Surbhi Misra

March 23 (Reuters) - Genetic testing firm 23andMe said on Sunday it filed for filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. to help the $50 million company sell itself and that co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki had resigned after multiple failed takeover bids.

23andMe, whose saliva-based test kits help customers learn about their ancestry, had cut about 40%, or 200 employees, of its workforce and stopped development of all its therapies as part of a restructuring program announced in November.

Wojcicki, to be replaced by CFO Joe Selsavage on an interim basis, has been pushing for a buyout since last April but has been rebuffed by 23andMe's board. She intends to make another bid during the bankruptcy process, she said in a post on X, without giving details.

Her last offer was for $0.41 per share earlier this month, an 84% cut from an offer the previous month since her private equity partner in that bid had walked after the board's rejection.

The latest offer valued 23andMe at about $11 million, below its current value of $50 million, per LSEG data, and a far cry from its $3.5 billion market capitalization when it went public in 2021.

"After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we have determined that a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward to maximize the value of the business," Chair Mark Jensen said in a statement.

23andMe said it secured a debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing commitment for about $35 million and expects to continue operating during the sale process. It did not say if it had any other buyout interest or offers.

It listed both assets and estimated liabilities of $100 million to $500 million.

A month before its restructuring, 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million and give three years of security monitoring to settle a lawsuit accusing it of failing to protect the privacy of 6.9 million customers whose personal information was exposed in a data breach in 2023. (Reporting by Anusha Shah, Shubham Kalia and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Savio D'Souza)