Two bids for
Knight Capital are in, and they're now in the hands of the board.
Yesterday multiple publications
reported that one of the beleaguered market maker's summer saviors, fellow market maker
Getco, submitted a reverse merger offer. Now Jacob Bunge, Anupreeta Das and Jenny Strasburg of the
Wall Street Journal report that rival bidder
Virtu, another market maker already rumored to be in the running, submitted its bid yesterday, too. According to the pub, Knight's board is weighing the bids at a meeting this morning, after Getco public disclosed its bid and asked for quick consideration and an "exclusivity agreement."
Knight Capital is the second-biggest ETF market maker.
The
WSJ estimates that Getco's deal, which includes upfront cash of $3.50 each for about half the outstanding shares, values Knight at $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion, while Virtu's all-cash $3 per share offer values Knight at $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion.
Getco would put its own CEO
Daniel Coleman in charge post-merger, while pushing Knight chief
Thomas Joyce into the non-executive chairman role. Unnamed sources told the paper that Virtu would put Joyce in charge if they win.
The paper notes that
Jefferies Group agreed to put up to $950 million in financing behind Getco's offer. Getco owns 16 percent of Knight and Jefferies owns 23 percent, making it Knight's biggest shareholder.
Unnamed sources told the
WSJ that
Barclays,
Citigroup and
Credit Suisse have committed to more than $1 billion in financing for Virtu's bid. And those sources said two private equity firms, including Virtu backer
Silver Lake Partners, are also discussing supporting Virtu's bid. 
Edited by:
Neil Anderson, Managing Editor
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