JC Flowers, the private equity firm, has pulled out of a deal to buy the futures business of scandal-hit US broker Refco as rival bidders pushed the price up by nearly $100m (€82m).

Judge Robert Drain yesterday said he would only consider JC Flowers' $768m bid if the group cut its break-up fee from $15m to $5m and eliminated an option which allowed JC Flowers to bid on Refco assets beyond the futures arm, The Wall Street Journal reports.