IB Really Wants REFCO, IB now top bidder at $858M

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by CPTrader, Oct 24, 2005.

  1. Refco unit sale may be a transfer of accounts -WSJ
    NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The sale of Refco's brokerage unit is likely to entail a bulk transfer of customer accounts rather than an outright shift of the entity, because of regulatory concerns, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
    Such an approach would be a late twist, as bids for Refco's regulated commodities and futures arm are due by Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern time (2100 GMT).

    That is not expected to keep suitors away because it would achieve the same result for the buyer as an acquisition, said the paper, which cited a person familiar with the matter.

    Refco, once the largest U.S. independent futures and commodities brokerage, plunged into bankruptcy last month after its chief executive, Phillip Bennett, was charged with securities fraud.

    A transfer of accounts would leave the unit, Refco LLC, intact on paper and open to potential penalties for past wrongdoing. Regulators this week had objected to auction rules they believe could protect the company from such actions.

    Refco said in a statement it had no intention of protecting individuals when it proposed the auction setup, which is being overseen by a federal judge as part of bankruptcy proceedings, the paper said. ADVERTISEMENT



    People familiar with the matter expect Refco's futures unit to attract four to six formal bids.

    Refco, its creditors and advisors will evaluate the proposals this weekend and conduct the auction next week. They expect to submit the name of the buyer in court Thursday, the paper said.

    An investor group including Merrill Lynch & Co. and the firm Warburg Pincus LLC have dropped out of the running
     
    #41     Nov 4, 2005
  2. donaq7

    donaq7

    our money is not safe in u.s markets move it to a canadian company and sleep at night we have nothing protecting us
     
    #42     Nov 4, 2005
  3. Digs

    Digs

    If you were a REFCO client, and you had monies in the market ( say you owned stocks), dont you get that monies back when you liquid your position, is it not only the monies atcually sitting in the account as CASH that is unsecured creditor that was lost to the client ???
     
    #43     Nov 4, 2005
  4. Java on it's way out.....

    I don't think so. I've been in the IT industry for a fairly long time, and I've worked both commercial sector and government sectors. And in the past year, I've only seen Java Apps increase on both sides.

    Not everyone is running windows...

    I personally use Fedora. fortunately FXCM trading software works just ine with wine, so I have no issues. But a lot of people like JAVA that are on the run. And JAVA is here to stay for those no windows system, such as PDA, MAC, Linux, Solaris, and cell phones.

    Java has become an industry standard, and standards are very hard to change once their in place. Even if you have a better technology. Remember how log it took for CD to become standard. CD;s have been out since fore 1986....
     
    #44     Nov 4, 2005
  5. All irrelevant.
    ISBN 0-596-10094-9, Section 1.1: "Ignorance as a Virtue".

    Happened times before in the history of computing.
    :cool:
     
    #45     Nov 5, 2005
  6. Reports indicate that IB, Man & JCFlowers submitted bids before the Friday deadline for REFCO units. Alaron made a bid for the old Lind Waldock unit that REFCO previously acquired.

    However, no word on the Dubai group. Anyone with info on this? Did the Dubai group bid??
     
    #46     Nov 7, 2005
  7. Any news on the REFCO bidding process? Who were the five bidders? Who are the qualified bidders that were supposed to be announced today?
     
    #47     Nov 7, 2005
  8. danoXP

    danoXP

    If Interactive Brokers wins the auction, then will existing REFCO customers be forced to trade only "electronic" contracts?

    or,

    will IB enable it's customers to trade "pit traded" contracts?

    ... (I have no experience with Refco, but I understand many use it for the Pit Traded futures contracts).

    danoXP

    ps. I searched the threads and could not find this question or answer.
     
    #48     Nov 8, 2005
  9. just21

    just21

    IB have said they would run Refco as a seperate subsidary. Though they will own a lot of seats/shares to vote for electronic trading.
     
    #49     Nov 8, 2005
  10. NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Five groups have bid for all or parts of bankrupt futures and commodities broker Refco Inc. (RFXCQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research) with qualified bidders to join an auction for the assets on Wednesday, according to the company.

    Sources familiar with the bidding said offers for Refco's most sought after asset, its futures brokerage unit, were likely to be around $1 billion.

    Refco declined to give details or terms of submitted bids or say which had qualified for Wednesday's auction. The company will submit winners to the U.S. bankruptcy court on Thursday.

    Following is a list of the five bidders as confirmed by some bidders and by sources familiar with the process: * Man Financial, the brokerage arm of UK listed hedge fund firm Man Group Plc (EMG.L: Quote, Profile, Research), said it had bid for some of Refco's operations and assets but did not provide details. * Alaron, a Chicago futures and options dealer, said it has submitted a bid for Refco's private client business which is a small part of the futures business. * J.C. Flowers & Co., a U.S. private equity firm led by former Goldman Sachs banker Christopher Flowers, had submitted a bid, sources said, after withdrawing an initial offer worth $768 million for the future business. * Interactive Brokers Group, a U.S. broker-dealer, has submitted a bid, sources said, but terms were unknown. The group had the highest known offer on the table for the futures business, offering to pay about $858 million. * Dubai Investment Group, the investment arm of the Dubai government, U.S. buyout firm Yucaipa Cos., and Marathon Asset Management LLC, have submitted a joint bid, a source said. It was unknown if the latest bid was the same as an earlier offer to buy the future business for $828 million.
     
    #50     Nov 8, 2005