Broad/Burkle top Zell's offer

The L.A. billionaires' revised bid is $8.2 billion, or $34-a-share, which includes $500 million in equity. Zell's bid was $33-a-share, which includes $300 million in equity. The LAT quotes another one of those unnamed people as saying that Broad and Burkle would structure the deal with an employee stock ownership plan - just as Zell has proposed. So what's the Tribune board supposed to do now? It was ready to do the Zell deal - as early as tomorrow by some accounts. It's hard to believe that's still going to happen. As for Zell, will he come back with a slightly higher bid or just take his chances at $33? The stock has been gaining ground in recent days, in anticipation of a last-minute surprise. It closed today at $31.53.