What's going on with the Alliance Data Systems-Blackstone Group deal? The deal was struck back in May. But Alliance shares have been weakening recently as rumors mounted that the deal may be in trouble. Alliance denied the speculation. Now comes news from Blackstone that federal regulators have slapped some onerous conditions on the buyout of the credit card company. It seems the original deal is off, though Blackstone seems willing to renegotiate. For Alliance, this seems a little Sallie Mae-like. According to the AP, the firm disputes that the OCC's terms were overly burdensome. In this environment, any such move by a private equity firm, fairly or not, will seem like a bid to get out of the deal or to get a new price.  

For more:
- here's the AP article