Vornado Tops Blackstone

Vornado Realty Trust has led a $52 per share buyout offer for Equity Office Properties Trust, with Starwood Capital and Walton Street Capital also participating. This tops an existing $48 per share bid from The Blackstone Group, and would raise the overall transaction value to $38 billion from $36 billion. Either way, it would be the largest leveraged buyout in history. More deal details here.