It took only two weeks for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s $45 billion purchase of TXU to top Blackstone Group LP's record breaking $39 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust. Now, rumors on the Street suggest that a leveraged buyout of Dow Chemical Co. could top TXU in the coming days or weeks, according to Bloomberg. The buzz about a Dow buyout surfaced long before the TXU announcement, so a LBO wouldn't be a surprise. However, what is so surprising is the brevity of LBO record holders. It took two months before Blackstone topped the $33 billion purchase of hospital operator HCA Inc. The HCA buying group included KKR, Bain Capital LLC and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity. Of course, HCA became the biggest deal since the KKR-led purchase of RJR Nabisco in 1989. Interestingly, Blackstone and KKR are some of the possible buyers for Dow, which means Blackstone could again take the top spot — until of course KKR finds yet another big prize. It seems as if Henry Kravis and Stephen Schwarzman are locked in a dialectic with the classic Irving Berlin song "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" playing in the background. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story from Bloomberg
See related TXU story from The Deal
See list of top 10 buyouts from Dealbook
See related Megabuyout Dealwatch
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Yeah, but which deal was the biggest in real dollars?