The auction for the assets of Refco, the collapsed US futures brokerage, heated up on Monday as more bidders emerged and a US bankruptcy judge signalled he was opposed to rules that gave too much protection to a consortium led by JC Flowers. The government of Dubai teamed with Ron Burkle, the billionaire California-based investor and Democrat fund-raiser, to offer $828m (€689m) for Refco. This offer tops both a bid worth $790m tabled on Thursday by Interactive Brokers Group, a Connecticut-based rival, and an agreement signed a week ago under which the business would be bought by the JC Flowers group for $768m. Other interested bidders include Man Financial, the UK investment group, and Apollo Management, the US private equity group.

Posted: 10|25|05 at 9:27 am. Filed under: US News.