Well, the Blackstone Group has pulled off the largest buyout in history. Right? When Equity Office announced that it has decided to stick with Blackstone's offer of $54 a share (all cash)--even though it is a bit lower than the Vornado-backed consortium's offer of $56 a share (cash and debt)--it seemed that way. But not so fast. Vornado has submitted a new bid that would pay the cash portion much quicker, which was an issue for the board. Vornado's offer would still need the approval of its shareholders. Equity Office shareholders were scheduled to vote today, but that will likely be put off until Wednesday. For Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder of Blackstone, this is quite a coup, if he pulls it off. We'll see what the Equity office board thinks of Vornado's latest.   

For more:
- here's an update from The New York Times