Sallie Mae eyed by private equity buyer, report says.

The New York buyout firm Blackstone Group might offer $20 billion to take over the parent of student loan provider Sallie Mae, The New York Times reported this morning.

Sallie Mae, which is owned by Reston, Va.-based SLM Corp., operates a loan processing center in Fishers and has a new loan-collection service in Muncie that launched with 350 workers and is ramping up to 700.

Its stock is up 11.4 percent this morning, to $45.38 per share.