GFI Board To Explore Strategic Alternatives

(RTTNews) - GFI Group Inc. (GFIG) said Friday that its Board of Directors will explore strategic alternatives with any and all interested parties to maximize shareholder value for all shareholders.

The alternatives could include, among others, joint ventures, mergers and/or acquisitions, the interdealer broker said.

Earlier Friday, GFI said it has terminated its merger agreement with futures exchange operator CME Group Inc (CME) after preliminary voting results showed that GFI shareholder did not approve the proposed merger.

Michael Gooch, GFI Group's Executive Chairman, said, "During the past year the Company, its Board and its management have focused on a transaction that it believed would maximize value for all shareholders. While we are disappointed that the CME merger was not approved by our shareholders, we appreciate their view and will work tirelessly to find a strategic alternative that offers the Company's shareholders the chance to maximize the value of their investment."

New York-based interdealer broker BGC Partners Inc (BGCP) and Chicago, Illinois-based CME Group have been engaged in a bidding war for GFI since September 2014. On January 20, CME Group again sweetened its bid for GFI Group, increasing its offer to $5.85 per share from $5.60 per share, payable in a mix of shares of CME Group Class A common stock and cash. BGC Partners shot back with a superior $6.10 per share offer for GFI Group.

BGC's tender offer is scheduled to expire on February 3, unless extended.

"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," Howard Lutnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BGC, said in a statement earlier Friday.