Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) has watched its share price get pummeled along with the rest of the commercial real estate sector. But its reasonably strong financial position has left it well-prepared to take advantage of others' weaknesses and get ready for a turnaround.

Now the company just needs some cash. Bloomberg reports that the REIT "is trying to raise $1 billion to invest in real estate assets, according to a person with knowledge of the fundraising."

As Wall Street expected, Blackstone Group made a counter offer for Equity Office Properties Trust (EOP). And it's a 11% higher than its original bid -- coming in at $22.3 billion.

The bid from Vornado Realty Trust is $21.5 billion.

Yes, Blackstone wants EOP in a bad way. And, given its newest offer, it looks like the firm will win this trophy.

What's more, the break-up fee will go from $200 million to $500 million. In other words, if Vornado wants to make another offer, it will certainly be expensive. What's more, the firm has a tight deadline -- January 31st -- to make a bid.

All in all, the co-founder and CEO of EOP, Sam Zell, has definitely shown he is a very skillful deal-maker. By initially establishing a low break-up fee, he created an auction environment. As a result, he's going to walk away with an even bigger fortune.

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

Over the years, commercial real estate has made a variety of people multi-billionaires. Actually, in the buyout of Equity Office Properties (NYSE:EOP), we are seeing some of these all-stars compete on a grand scale. This is detailed in a great story in Bloomberg.com. Ok, let's take a look at the roster:

• Sam Zell: He is the cofounder and CEO of EOP. He got his start, back in the 1970s, as a skillful investor in distressed properties. His nickname became the "Gravedancer." Forbes has his net worth pegged at $4.5 billion.
• Stephen Schwarzman: He is the CEO and cofounder the Blackstone Group. True, a big part of his wealth has come from private equity. However, Blackstone is one of the world's largest real estate investors. His networth is about $2.5 billion.
• Steven Roth: He is the cofounder and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO). His networth is about $1.1 billion. Yes, in terms of net worth, Roth is lagging. However, he now has the high bid for EOP – at about $37.6 billion. Moreover, he is being joined by Barry Sternlicht, who built Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT).
  

True, if Blackstone loses the deal, it will get a $200 million break-up fee. But, this is chump change. Actually, it looks like Blackstone wants to make a counter bid. Funny enough, if Blackstone wins, it's a good bet that the firm will sell of some of its properties to Roth.

All in all, this shows that mega real estate moguls still see potential in commercial real estate -- that is except Zell, who wants to cash out. And, of course, he's the richest of the whole group. And about to get even richer.

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

Despite the huge amounts of capital in the private equity world -- and the pressure to find good deals -- things have been fairly disciplined. Valuations have not been nutty. Deal structures have been reasonable. And for the most part there have not been many bidding wars.

A big help has been an unwritten gentleman's agreement -- if a buyout is agreed to, another private equity firm will not interfere.

Well, this week it looks like we are reaching a turning point. Despite the fact that the Blackstone Group is far along in its $36 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties (NYSE: EOP), there is now a competing bid from Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO). The new offer is for $38 billion (funny enough, Vornado setup a company -- called Dove Parent -- to do the deal).

Such a high-stakes battle has not been seen since the legendary buyout of RJR Nabisco. Interestingly, it was this deal that signaled the end of the buyout boom in the 1980s.

You can check out an excellent article on this story in today's New York Times.

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

As I wrote earlier today in Bloggingstocks, it looks like Cerberus Capital is not going to launch a rival bid for Equity Office Properties Trust (NYSE: EOP), which is currently in the process of being sold to Blackstone for about $36 billion (including debt).

Well, according to a report on CNBC, a deal for EOP might be imminent. That is, the massive real estate firm, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO), is reportedly preparing a bid.

VNO's stock price is down about 1.87% on the news. After all, a deal might involve issuing a chunk of stock.

Then again, the commercial real estate market has been particularly strong. And, it appears that rents will continue to increase for some time, making it easier to pay premium prices for assets as a result.

And investors are betting that another rival will come, as EOP's stock price is up $0.85 to $50.70.

Blackstone's current offer is $48.50.

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