WASHINGTON, DC-It is clear that private equity firms see value in the GSEs and, one way or another, are seeking to own a piece of the action. On Thursday, as we reported, Fairholme Capital Management submitted a proposal to purchase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on behalf of private investors in a deal in which the GSEs are valued at $52 billion.

On Friday, it was reported that private equity hedge fund Pershing Square has acquired a 9.77% and 9.98% stake in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, respectively, for $500 million.

This is not the first time Pershing's Bill Ackman has expressed an interest in the GSEs. As Reuters reminded us on Friday, in 2008, Ackman proposed a restructuring plan for the GSEs, which included the suggestion that they be moved to New York.

It may be that Ackman's approach has the greater chance of success. An analysis in the Financial Times of the Fairholme proposal suggests that, after digging into the details, the government does not come out a winner in the transaction.

"The new companies would be capitalised with $52bn," says the Lex column. "From where? Two-thirds would come from the government. This sounds like an odd form of private capital."

It appears Fairholme is basing some of his calculations on the value of the GSEs' preferred shares, which as the Lex column points out, were in fact been stripped of rights last year.

Meanwhile the Senate Banking Committee is working on a draft bill to wind down the GSEs, but aides have told reporters that it probably won't be ready to be put to a vote in the committee until 2014.