Chicago Mercantile Exchange Raises Bid for Board of Trade

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange raised its bid for the Chicago Board of Trade to $11 billion, the third increase in a three-month contest with Intercontinental Exchange, as it tries to build the world's largest futures market.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. is offering 0.375 of its shares for each CBOT Holdings Inc. share, raising the value of its offer by 7.1%, according to a statement yesterday from the exchange. The increase persuaded CBOT's largest shareholder, Sydney-based Caledonia Investments, to drop its opposition and support the Chicago Merc bid over the $11.4 billion offer from Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange Inc.

"This shows the Board of Trade is a great property, a great asset, and in this environment you have to pay up for it," a finance professor at the London Business School , Bruce Weber, said. "Maybe this is the final punch in the battle."

Yesterday's "best and final" offer from the Chicago Merc has the shareholder support it needs, Mr. Donohue said in an interview.