US interdealer broker Cantor Fitzgerald has rejected an offer from Tullet Prebon, a London-based brokerage, for its electronic bond trading network eSpeed, reports Finextra.

Tullet pitched the bid at $12 per share, valueing eSpeed Inc. at $350m. The deal was dependant on Cantor cutting all ties with eSpeed, where it currently controls 88% of the voting rights through a dual-class share structure. Last month investors urged Cantor, in writing, to dismantle that structure.

"We believe that our proposal is in the best interests of eSpeed's shareholders other than Cantor and those associated with it, and would unlock shareholder value that is now unavailable to the minority shareholders,'' Tullett Chief Executive Officer Terry Smith said in the statement.

Electronic trading networks, and companies providing, them are in demand as brokers move away from conducting business over the phone to using computers. London based ICAP, the world's largest interdealer broker, last month agreed to pay up to $825m for EBS to expand in to the foreign-exchange market.

A purchase of eSpeed would complete the puzzle for a voice broker and the Tullett bid may spark a bidding for the eSpeed platform. The sticking point being the ownership, who don't seem to want to let it go.

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