Following a tumultuous period that saw the extension of numerous offers, GFI shareholders have rejected a proposal for a CME-GFI management Merger , limiting the options on the table.
An ongoing bidding war that had its roots as far back as July 2014 between interdealer GFI Group, CME Group and BGC Partners. An all-cash bid eventually headed as high as $6.10 in the ensuing demand.
BGC Partners held a meeting with GFI Group, whereby the shareholders' rejection of a proposed merger agreement with CME Group Inc. Effectively, this means that BGC's tender offer is the only remaining takeover offer. BGC had urged GFI Shareholders to tender their shares into a $6.10 per share offer – GFI (NYSE:GFIG) presently trades at $5.61 a share.
According to Howard Lutnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BGC, in a recent statement on the rejection, “We believe that the proposed CME-GFI management merger failed by an overwhelming margin. We appreciate this apparently strong rejection by the disinterested GFI shareholders, and feel that it reflects their belief that our offer has always been both very credible and clearly superior to the alternative."
"We remain fully committed to completing our all-cash tender offer of $6.10 per share, which remains open to GFI shareholders. Since a rejection by GFI shareholders would end any possibility of the CME-GFI management merger being completed, our tender offer is the only viable option for GFI stockholders seeking to maximize the value for their shares. We therefore strongly urge them to tender their shares into our clearly superior offer and we are prepared to move quickly to complete this transaction," he added.
