Howard Lutnick’s BGC Partners is in a heated, head-to-head contest with CME to acquire the GFI Group, and matched CME’s bid just hours after it was made, as reported by Bloomberg. CME met BGC’s bid of $5.85, and in response, BGC raised the offer to $6.10 per share.
BGC is headed by Howard Lutnick who is also CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. He urged GFI to reject the offer from CME. However, CME has already agreed to buy GFI in a two-step plan, according to the New York Times. Lutnick, however, remains undeterred and told Bloomberg, “We are fully committed to completing this transaction and our revised offer is clearly superior to the current agreement in place between CME and GFI management.”
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
GFI’s price has increased dramatically since the bidding war began with nine offers so far and significantly raised bids from the initial price of $4.55 CME offered in July.
Howard Lutnick succeeded Bernard Gerald Cantor at Cantor Fitzgerald. He was born on Long Island to Solomon, a history professor and Jane, an artist. Howard Lutnick has seen quite a lot of tragedy in his life; his mother passed away of lymphoma when he was in high school, in college, his father died during surgery for cancer, and he lost his brother and 658 employees in the 9/11 terror attacks. Lutnick is known for his philanthropy, including the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund which helps families affected by attacks and natural disasters.
