Private Equity, Public Feuds

THE cozy world of private equity is about to become a lot less comfortable.
For a preview of the coming chill, consider the recent takeover battle for Freescale Semiconductor, a maker of chips for cellphones that was spun off from Motorola. Just hours before an alliance of four firms led by the Blackstone Group was to buy the company for $16 billion, another team of private equity firms, led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital, swooped in with a competing offer.
After a short but tense showdown, Blackstone won the contest after raising its bid at the 11th hour by 10 percent, to $17.6 billion.