The hottest buyout firm on Wall Street is seriously eyeing an acquisition of the Chrysler Group. Blackstone Group, a private-equity giant with stakes in more than 100 companies, has emerged as a leading contender to buy the troubled U.S. division of German automaker DaimlerChrysler AG, people familiar with the situation told The Detroit News. Blackstone, led by high-flying Chairman Stephen Schwarzman, is among a handful of corporate suitors that has been given access to confidential business data about Chrysler, which was put up for sale last month.

Detroit News

Another less-likely candidate has emerged as well:

The spectacle surrounding the Chrysler Group took a strange twist late last week when Daniel Imperato, a Florida businessman and independent candidate for U.S. president, said he wanted to make Chrysler an employee-owned company. Haven't heard of him? Neither had we. Imperato's most recent company, Imperiali Inc., has changed names and directions several times. It has $431,664 in cash, according to its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. But Imperato claims he has access to $5 billion from outside investors who want to save jobs for blue-collar workers. If his group pulls off the deal to buy Chrysler, he said he's not sure whether he will take over as the company's CEO. "It depends on how my campaign goes," Imperato said. At least he's realistic. Being president of the United States and CEO of a major automaker might be too much for one person.

Detroit Free Press

Blackstone sounds promising.