Cantor Exploiting BGC Reorg to Grow Stake, Investor Lawsuit Says

An investor sued BGC Partners Inc. over concerns that Cantor Fitzgerald LP and its billionaire chairman, Howard Lutnick, are trying to increase their controlling stake by reorganizing the brokerage’s “up-C” structure at the expense of public investors.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, seeks internal files from BGC to investigate allegations that the restructuring’s purpose is to grow Cantor’s voting power from 58% to roughly 76%. The move was approved by board members with conflicts of interest stemming from their ties to Lutnick, who also heads BGC, the suit says.

The brokerage spun off from Cantor in 2004.

The transaction, which “appears ...