It appears that Ford (NYSE: F) may finally have a buyer for Jaguar and Rover. The Wall Street Journal reports that Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra will tie up with private equity operation Apollo Management to buy the car units. Not all of the roadblocks to the deal have been pushed aside. The Journal writes "Labor leaders in the United Kingdom are seeking assurances that the brands' new owner would protect jobs and factories in the country."

Ford paid a little over $5 billion for the two units, and industry estimates put their current value at $1.5 billion. So the sale would mark another step in the humiliating downsizing of Ford.

The probability of a sale also raises an interesting question. If Ford's management is so much better than it was a year ago and it has a much better labor deal with the UAW, why sell the units at all? If a company in India can improve the fortunes of the two brands, why can't Ford?

It is not too late for the No.2 U.S. car company to work on fixing the units itself. The poor results of Jag and Rover are already in the stock. Improving their results ought to help shareholder value.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

The Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Management are on track to complete their $90 a share buyout of Harrah's Entertainment (NYSE: HET) by the end of the year. According to a report out of New Zealand, TPG, along with its East Asia affiliate Newbridge Castle, is already shopping for an addition to its gaming business.

In August, SkyCity Entertainment Group (NZE: SKC), which owns casinos in Australia and New Zealand, announced it was interested in testing the sale value of some of its assets. Instead, it received an expression of interest in acquiring the entire company. The unnamed suitor is now thought to be TPG.

The two have a history. SkyCity bought its Auckland casino from Harrah's for $20 million in 1998. Since then, SkyCity has fallen on hard times. It netted $98.4 million in 2007, down 18.1% from 2006.

The SkyCity properties would fit nicely with other TPG gaming holdings including Harrah's and London Clubs International, making it a huge player in the worldwide gambling scene.

In light of the horrible performance of the Blackstone (NYSE: BX) IPO, it seems reasonable that other players are looking at alternatives.

So maybe try for a private offering?

That's the thinking of Goldman's (NYSE: GS) new electronic market, called GS TRuE. Despite the funky name, it's a pretty cool idea.

Since the investors are institutional, there are fewer onerous regulations – and disclosure requirements – within this newfangled marketplace.

Already, Oaktree Capital has issued shares on the GS TRuE. And, now it looks like Apollo Management is considering an offering.

According to the FT.com [a paid service], it appears that the firm is looking to raise about $1.1 billion (for about 12.5% of the outstanding shares). It's actually a muted valuation – and may reflect the troubles with Blackstone as well as the troubles in the global credit markets.

Although, this does not preclude an eventual IPO. After all, for those investors with shares in Apollo or Oaktree, they will definitely want to get a return on their money at some point.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Computer Sciences(NYSE:CSC) call volume and volatility spikes on renewed speculation. CSC is recently up .97 to $61.27 on unconfirmed deal chatter Blackstone(NYSE:BX) or Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) will make a bid. CSC is frequently chatted as being sold to IBM (NYSE:IBM), Lockheed Martin(NYSE:LMT), United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) or private equity after Apollo Managements' bid for the CSC failed in the spring of 2006. CSC July 62.5 calls have traded 126 times on transaction volume of 3,459 contracts above its open interest of 2,356 contracts. CSC August option implied volatility of 36 is above its 26-week average of 25 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Option volume leaders today are: Novastar Financial (NASDAQ:NFI) and Apple Computer (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

With Blackstone Group LLC (NYSE: BX) already public and KKR on its way to the NYSE exchange, there is lots of chatter about the next candidates. Well, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal [a paid service], it looks like Apollo Management may be trading soon.

Interestingly enough, the firm's founder -- Leon Black -- took a trip to Abu Dhabi. Yes, there's a ton of money there and I'm sure some eager investors who would want to be a part of Apollo. Although, it looks like there are some issues on valuation.

An investment from Abu Dhabi would likely mean a boost for Apollo's efforts in emerging markets. As the dealmaking gets crowded in the U.S. and Europe, private equity needs to find new frontiers of opportunity.

So, with a slug of capital from Abu Dhabi, Apollo might then file for an IPO and get even more money from U.S. public investors.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

I guess some dealmakers don't take off for the 4th of July. That appears to be the case with Apollo Management.

The firm has made a $6.35 billion offer for Huntsman (NYSE: HUN), a large chemical operator.

Huntsman appears to be a hot commodity. Keep in mind that on June 26th, the company agreed to a $6 billion buyout from Basell AF.

Apollo has a lot of history in the chemical business. In fact, the firm plans to merge Huntsman with its Hexion Specialty Chemicals company. All in all, it looks like a pretty good fit.

It would also bring scale. While Hexion has sales under $5 billion, Huntsman generates sales of about $10.6 billion.

Basically, the Huntsman family wants to get liquidity for its charitable mission. And Apollo looks like it could give those efforts a nice boost.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

It's been a tough fight for the buyout of EGL Inc. (NASDAQ: EAGL). Apollo Management and the company's CEO, James Crane, have been bidding against each other for the past five months or so.

But it looks like we have a deal. That is, EGL has agreed to a $2 billion offer from Apollo.

Making things easier, Apollo also owns Ceva. As a result, the combined EGL-Ceva will create a much bigger logistics company.

However, Crane is not giving up. If you check out a filing with the SEC, top executives at EGL are alleging that another executive provided confidential information to Apollo.

Well, litigation is pretty common in such things. So, I suspect we'll see a complaint filed.

But, in the end, Apollo had a higher price and that should mean the deal will finally get done.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

EGL (NASDAQ: EAGL) is not in a sexy business; that is, the company is a freight forwarder and logistics specialist. Boring, huh?

Not to Apollo Management. The firm is determined to buy the company and has made a third bid for its shares. The latest is for $46 and that translates into a valuation of about $1.89 billion.

The problem has been that EGL's CEO – Jim Crane -- has also been trying to buy the company. His latest bid was for $45 per share.

But try not to feel too sorry for him. He and his investors get a $30 million termination fee if the deal falls through. Oh, and he also owns 18% of the company.

On the news of the Apollo bid, the stock price of EGL climbed $3.08 to $45.79 per share. The low spread between the market price and the offer indicate that there may be an even higher bid in the offing.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

While residential real estate continues to falter, that's not stopping the rush of private equity. The latest deal is the $237.6 million purchase of Eagle Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: EHP), which is a real estate investment trust.

The buyer is AP AIMCAP, which is a joint venture that includes Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund V LP, Aimbridge Hospitality LP, and JF Capital Advisors LLC.

Back in late January, Eagle disclosed that it was exploring "alternatives." Since then, the stock has surged from $9.40 to $13.31.

Eagle owns 13 hotels (with a total of 3,516 rooms). The brands include Hilton, Embassy Suites, Marriott and Hyatt.

In Q4, Eagle increased funds from operations (FFO) by 17% to $5 million, or $0.21 per share. FFO is a key metric for real estate operating companies. Basically, it adds back depreciation and amortization to net income, so as to provide a more accurate picture of cash flows.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

For billionaire private equity tycoons, the big question is: should I go public?

It's a decision that needs to be made fairly quickly. With Blackstone expected to suck up $4 billion or more from its own offering, there is certainly not unlimited funds -- despite the go-go environment for private equity.

So, in a report in the AP, the leader of Apollo Management, Leon Black, is giving lots of thoughts to public markets.

But, since he's a uber dealmaker, he's not showing his cards. He basically says that there are good things and bad things about going public (yes, Black is kind of like an American politician).

However, Black realizes that markets don't go up forever and he has a juicy opportunity to get some liquidity for his work. So, if I were to place a bet, I have a good feeling he wants to take his company public -- and soon.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Yesterday, the private equity firm Apollo Management closed its $8.5 billion buyout of Realogy.

The firm was the result of a spinoff from Cendant in January 2006 and operates Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, Sotheby's International Realty and Coldwell Banker Commercial.

The financing for the buyout looks like this:

Equity from Apollo Management	$1.99 billion
Term loan, revolving credit loan and a secured facility	$4.27 billion
Senior unsecured loan	$2.75 billion
Senior subordinated loan	$900 million
Replacement relocation receivables securitization facilities	$1.06 billion

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is in talks to buy the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the third largest options exchange in the U.S.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Kirk Kerkorian wasn't invited to meet this week with DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) as it gets together with bidders for its Chrysler unit.
• Also in the Wall Street Journal, Xstrata will sell its aluminum unit to Apollo Management for $1.5B, higher than expected.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the New York Post, citing sources familiar with the matter, the private-equity firms that bought out Clear Channel Communications Inc (NYSE: CCU), Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, are weighing their options as they wait for a "crucial" shareholder vote on the deal, which will come next week.

WEBSITES:

• According to Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column, Carl Icahn's investment groups reported that in the last two weeks they have increased their Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) holdings to 69.1M shares, or a 2.9% stake, from 64.9M shares, or a 2.7% stake.
• DigiTimes.com reported that Samsung is reportedly switching capacity from DRAM back to NAND flash.

Stockholders yesterday approved the long-planned acquisition of gaming giant Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:HET) by Apollo Management and the Texas Pacific Group (TPG). Two-thirds of voting shares agreed to the $90 per share purchase price, which was recommended by Harrah's Board. The final price was $6.19 over the stock's closing price on March 8th, the cutoff for inclusion in the deal.

In the $17.1 billion buyout, TPG and Apollo take on $10.7 billion of debt. Paying down this debt will overshadow any expansion plans for the foreseeable future.

A number of regulating agencies in areas where Harrah's operates have yet to review and approve the deal. Harrah's expects the deal to be completed by the end of the year.

Harrah's, by revenue the world's largest casino company, has facilities in the U.S. and around the world, including some of Las Vegas' prime properties.

For more about Apollo, see Tom Taulli's post in BloggingStocks.

Follow Harrah's story at BloggingBuyouts

Since the story of private equity firm The Blackstone Group's potential initial public offering has been out only a couple hours, it is still very much developing. With so few details out, the implications are as yet unknown. Here is Tom Taulli's earlier piece on the subject.

From CNBC's Faber (you can watch the video here, partial transcript's here) we know that the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Blackstone attorneys are preparing a prospectus. Preparing is one thing and filing is another, and yet Faber is quite adamant in his belief Blackstone will file within two weeks or by the end of March. Also, the decision to go public rests on Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman. Once again, an adamant Faber says "the decision has been all but made."

While Faber said that Blackstone's market value could be easily in excess of $20 billion according to bankers, MarketWatch points out that it isn't clear yet what kind of an IPO this would be. The shares could represent

Today, Jacuzzi Brands, Inc. (NYSE: JJZ) closed its deal to be bought-out by Apollo Management for roughly $1.25 billion. Yes, by the end of trading, the company will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

True, the company has a set of strong brands (like Zurn and Sundance Spas). Yet, the housing slump has taken its toll. What's more, the volatility in commodity prices has not helped.

As a private company, Jacuzzi will be able to make some changes, such as reducing overhead and even outsourcing manufacturing.

The company has been trying to sell itself since late 2004. But, there was not much interest -- all in all, Apollo's valuation of 9.6X EBITDA does seem fair.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.