So the deal isn't dead yet. Despite a lot of posturing and cut-short meetings, a group led by J. C. Flowers has made a new offer for Sallie Mae--$50 a share in cash. The previous offer was $60 a share. According to the New York Times, they added a sweetener in the form of warrants, which will rise in value if the company fares well. Those warrants could not be exercised for five years. Even then, there is no assurance they will be in the money. The issue is whether Sallie Mae will consider the offer. It released a statement noting that "our contract is with Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, two of America's largest and strongest banks. We expect these banks to honor that contract, not breach the contract." So we'll have to see how this plays out. This is high-stakes poker.  

For more:
- here's the New York Times article

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