Just over four months after losing nearly half a billion dollars in a trading meltdown, Knight Capital Group is the object of a fierce bidding war.

The troubled market maker held a board meeting on Monday but did not decide which of the two takeover bids it has received it would accept, according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. Rival market makers Getco and Virtu have both submitted bids to buy Knight, which remains one of the largest ETF and equity market makers, despite requiring an industry bailout this summer after nearly being brought down by a trading glitch.

The Wall Street Journal reported before Knight's board meeting that Getco and Virtu had considered raising their bids. WSJ reporter Jenny Strasburg said that Getco increased the amount of cash included in its deal, which values Knight at between $1.4 and $1.8 billion. The Virtu offer puts a $1.6 billion pricetag on Knight.

The latest Wall Street Journal story says that the bidding war between Getco and Virtu could still escalate. Both companies made hour-long presentations at the Knight board meeting. Then, around 4 PM, they were cleared out and the Knight board continued to meet into the evening. The board plans to meet again today to consider its options, according to the Journal.  

Edited by: Chris Cumming


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