Back in 1988, Darwin Deason founded Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (NYSE: ACS) to help build computer and software systems for major clients. It's turned out to be a successful business as the company generated $5.3 billion revenues last year. A big focus is on processing bank transactions and healthcare claims.

Now, Deason is taking ACS private in a $8.2 billion deal. The private equity buyer is Cerberus Capital Management.

Like many techs, ACS suffered from a stock options investigation. It was a managerial distraction (the CEO departed) and expensive.

So it's understandable why Deason wants to leave the public markets.

What's more, Deason will roll-over his major position in ACS stock in the deal. He certainly sees long-term potential here. And with voting control, he can basically call the shots.

However, he may have to bump the $59.25 offer up a bit. The current stock price is $60.10.

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

If a private equity firm is serious about bidding for Chrysler, it might as well get an expert to look over its shoulder, especially if that expert could run the company after the takeover.

Cerberus Capital Management, one of the private equity firms considering buying the US car unit from DaimlerChrysler (NYSE:DCX) has retained Wolfgang Bernhard [subscription] who previously worked at both Chrysler and VW.

Cerberus is already up to its eyeballs in the car industry. It bought a portion of GMAC from GM (NYSE:GM) last year and is trying to get a piece of the action at Delphi, the bankrupt car parts company that is working its way out of Chapter 11.

Hiring a senior car executive still begs the question of how a private equity firm can get more profit out of Chrysler. Wall Street assumes that Daimler did what it could to cut costs at it US arm. Another car company may be able to consolidate some functions if it bought Chrysler. But private equity firms seem to bring nothing to the table other than money.

There is another answer to the riddle of why private equity firms are all over Chrysler's books. They may assume that a purchase of the car company could immediately lead to breaking it into pieces. Jeep could probably be sold to another car company as could Chrysler's pick-up truck operations. That would leave the car brands, and they might not survive, at least at their current size.

Perhaps there is some "creative destruction" in Chrysler's future.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Cerberus Capital Management, a top private equity firm, recently hired John Snow, who was the former US Treasury Secretary. No doubt, while in office, he had a chance to deal with complex global issues – especially what's happening in China.

So, this week, Cerberus is setting-up an office in Hong Kong. This is according to a report from Bloomberg.com.

Snow also made some interesting comments, which sounded as if he was still working for the White House. His key message was that China needs to open its markets. In fact, he thinks this is absolutely critical since the country needs to create 25 million jobs a year.

And, yes, this means being friendly with private equity.

Snow will likely need to spend a lot of time in China to get things done. After all, last year, the country imposed even more restrictions on takeovers.

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

Blackstone's $36 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust (NYSE: EOP) looked like a done deal (except for some hick-ups with the bond investors).

Well, according to recent news reports, another group wants in. The players include Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital Group Global LLC), Neil Bluhm (Walton Street Capital) and Cerberus Capital Management.

Such battles are rare in the private equity world. There is an unwritten code that once a private equity deal is announced, it may not be topped. But when the stakes are high, rules have a tendency to be ignored. In other words, this year may be the time when private equity gets a little more hostile.

Obviously, this is good news for EOP shareholders, as the stock price is now at $49.49, which is above Blackstone's offer of $48.50.

Why all the interest? The outlook for commercial real estate looks particularly bright for the foreseeable future, especially for Class A properties. And given the stiff regulations, it takes time to build new capacity. So the betting is that rents will increase.

True, if EOP takes another offer, there will be a termination fee of $200 million. But given the size of the transaction, this is probably not relevant.

Blackstone has matching rights on any bid. That is, it can make a small increase to its purchase price to snag the deal -- which, interestingly enough, could limit the valuation on EOP.

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

In light of the global competition and difficulties of the U.S. automakers and unions, who would want a piece of the auto parts market? Well, private equity investors of course, as well as hedge funds see opportunity in this market.

Actually, the U.S. bankruptcy system may be the ally, as it can help wipe-away the legacy problems. After all, this has happened in the airline and steel industries, right?

Well, things are heating-up for the auto parts companies. In fact, Delphi Corp. is in the midst of a bidding war (the company is currently under Chapter 11 bankruptcy).

There was a $3.4 billion deal for the company with private equity investors like Appaloosa Management and Cerberus Capital Management.

Well, this week, a hedge fund jumped into the fray. Highland Capital is offering $4.7 billion. What's more, Highland does have some leverage since it is the second largest shareholder of Delphi (owning close to 9% of the company). It also has ownership in a slug of Delphi's debt.

It's certainly a bold move. By all accounts, it looks like the U.S. automakers will slash production in 2007 – which will put further pressure on the parts companies.

Although, Highland may be doing this more for negotiation purposes. That is, it is trying to get more from Cerberus-Appaloosa.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.