Although I am unsure if we will see any results by the end of 2009, I do believe the mod will be released eventually. In an interview earlier this year the lead project coordinator stated that the first half of the game is completly playable; what constitutes the first half the game is open to interpretation, could be anything pre-zen, who knows?
I don't think valve will buy the team or the game. Also stated in the interview, there has been over 120 people working on the game, nearly as many people as valve currently employ. Also the game isn't exactly oringinal, it's not like valve will be getting another CS, TF, L4D or portal.