Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday January 15, 2015

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday January 15, 2015:

:

BGC Partners, Inc.

announced Thursday, that it has delivered an executed agreement to GFI Group Inc.

that, if countersigned by GFI, provides that BGC would increase its fully financed, all-cash tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of GFI to $5.85 per share. BGC also raised its immediate and non-contingent all-cash tender offer price to $5.75 per share. The tender offer will expire on January 29, 2015, unless extended. Earlier on Thursday, CME Group Inc.

raised its offer for GFI to $5.60 per share, up from its previous offer from $5.25 per share, consisting of shares of CME Group Class A common stock and cash. BGC Partners shares closed Thursday at $8.19, a loss of $0.21. GFI Group shares gained $.15, to close at $5.60.

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Shutterstock, Inc.

, a leading global provider of commercial digital imagery and music, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire photographic press agency, Rex Features, for approximately $33 million. Shutterstock also announced Thursday, an agreement to acquire PremiumBeat, a provider of exclusive, high-quality music and sound effects used in videos, films, television, apps, games, and other creative projects. There will be an initial payment of approximately $32 million in cash, plus additional consideration payable upon the achievement of certain operating and financial goals through 2018. Shutterstock closed Thursday at $57.69, a loss of $1.24.

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Kellogg Company

announced Thursday it has acquired a majority stake in Egypt's Bisco Misr. Kellogg has agreed to pay EGP89.86 per share for an 85.93% stake in the company. Kellogg Shares gained $1.01 Thursday, to close at $67.74.

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Shares of E2open, Inc.

spiked higher Thursday, on a report from the

, that the company is seeking to sell itself and has hired Bank of America to assist in the sale process, according to sources. There is no word on who might be a potential buyer for the maker of cloud-based software for supply-chain management, but Cisco Systems Inc.

, International Business Machines Corp.

, and Lenovo Group Ltd

are among E2open's customers. E2open Shares closed Thursday at $5.47 and traded as high as $6.45 after-hours.