High-stakes bidding war

Nah, I'm not talking about the sad-sack Tribune Co. auction. What's really popping today is an emerging bid from three huge real estate firms for Equity Office Properties Trust, which was two weeks from being taken over by the Blackstone Group in a $20 billion deal. CNBC and the WSJ (there could be others) are reporting that Starwood Capital Group Global LLC, Vornado Realty Trust and Walton Street Capital will announce their bid after the market closes today - and it could turn out to be the highest-profile takeover battle since RJR Nabisco nearly 20 years ago.

Equity Office is the huge office landlord that's been controlled by the wild-and-crazy Chicago real estate titan (and frequent L.A. visitor), Sam Zell. Equity has a bunch of Socal properties, so the bidding war could have big consequences for a bunch of local tenants. Anyway, Journal mergers and acquisition reporter Dennis Berman says it's very unusual for a private equity group to encroach on someone else's offer - especially after the deal is about to be done. Which could present a bit of a problem because under terms of the original agreement, Blackstone has the right to match whatever rival deal emerges. WSJ Reuters