"Sallie Mae and the investor group seeking to terminate its $25 billion buyout of the big student lender failed to reach agreement by a judge's deadline Tuesday on dropping conditions of the deal that prevent the company from talking to other potential suitors," reports the Associated Press. "The investor group, led by private-equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co., told a judge that it was conveying to Sallie Mae in writing the group's waiver of 'any and all of their rights under the merger agreement ... that would in any way inhibit Sallie Mae from conducting its business or pursuing its strategic alternatives.' It wasn't clear what the stumbling blocks were to reaching an accord. Spokesmen for Sallie Mae didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment."