Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: LAUR) has certainly attracted a long list of top-notch investors, such as KKR, Citigroup, SAC Capital and even the company's CEO, Douglas Becker.

But the deal hasn't been easy – that is, until the investors started to boost the bid.

The latest was an increase from $60.50 to $62.00 (or $3.82 billion or so). And, that was enough to get the approval of Laureate's board.

As we have seen in other deals – such as with Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (NYSE: CCU) – major institutional public shareholders are not potted plants. Instead, they are getting tough on shareholder approvals.

In the case of Laureate, T. Rowe Price was making lots of noise. In fact, the firm even wrote a letter to the management and indicated that the offer was "significantly below the true long-term value of the company." According to its analysis, T. Rowe Price projects a stock price of $110 by 2010.

T. Rowe Price is not alone. Another major Laureate shareholder -- Select Equity Group – was not pleased with the pricing.

To get the deal done, Laureate only needs to get a majority of the shareholder vote – and that looks likely now. On the news of the new offer, the company's shares increased 2.53% to $61.63.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Laureate Education (NASDAQ: LAUR) is getting a lesson in private equity. That is, the company is going private. On the news, the stock surged 11.74% to $60.80.

One of the investors is Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts Co. Also, Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) will raise the debt.

But there is something that is odd: Steven Cohen's hedge fund, SAC, is an investor in the Laureate deal.

Typically, hedge funds focus on non-controlling positions. And, the holding periods tend to be short term. In fact, Cohen is known to be a quick-fire trader.

But, perhaps, he doesn't want to be left out of the private equity party. What's more, in light of his great track record, I'm sure his investors have no problems with this move.

Actually, we may be seeing signs that the distinctions between private equity and hedge funds are starting to blur. Keep in mind that recently KKR made a minority investment in Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW). Yes, this is a hedge fund kind of move.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.