It was a bitter fight between Carl Icahn and Seneca Capital in one corner and the Blackstone Group in the other. In the end, Icahn and his shareholder allies took a decisive round in the bruising battle for control of wholesale power company Dynegy.

Private equity power Blackstone seemed to have had the upper hand in its bid to buy the company for $602 million. But opposition from Icahn and others apparently swayed shareholders and company executives. On the eve of a shareholder vote, Dynegy realized it wasn't likely that the deal with Blackstone would go through. Blackstone bowed out. And the stock fell like a boulder.

Now a special committee of the independent board members will undertake an effort to restructure or perhaps find a new buyer. One has to wonder if Icahn will be in the running. Given the lack of other bidders, Dynegy shareholders may see him as the last best option.

Some may grow to rue the decision to give up on the Blackstone bid. But this is not a complete loss for the private equity giant. If Dynegy accepts a bid greater than $4.50 a share over the next year and a half, it would have to pay Blackstone a break up fee of $16.3 million--which seems small by today's standards. 

For more:
- here's a Reuters article

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