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.

Jacuzzi Brands: cheap, but fair private equity valuation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday's departure of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) executive Todd Thomson may have been helped along by his use of Citigroup's corporate jet to fly General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) CNBC reporter, Maria Bartiromo from Asia. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Todd & Maria-gate Memo will follow the ongoing saga.

This morning's Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that Todd Thomson used $5 million of his Citigroup marketing budget to finance a Sundance Channel program which was slated to be hosted by Robert Redford and Maria Bartiromo. [Bartiromo is no longer slated to host this program].

But wait, there's more. In 2005, current Chief Operating Officer Bob Druskin spotted Thomson having dinner with Bartiromo at the ritzy Daniel restaurant while Druskin was hosting a holiday dinner there for his investment banking management team.

Last November, Thomson flew Bartiromo to speak to Citigroup's private-banking clients at luncheons in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He flew with a group of Citigroup employees to Asia, but flew back to the U.S. on the corporate jet with Bartiromo.

After this November incident, Citigroup CEO, Chuck Prince, asked Thomson to stop spending Citigroup money on Bartiromo. Six weeks later, Thomson surprised Prince with The Sundance sponsorship announcement. This prompted Thomson's departure.

This saga raises questions of interest to Citigroup and GE investors, including:

• After all of Prince's blunders, are Citigroup directors debating his fate?
• Was GE CEO, Jeff Immelt, involved in approving Bartiromo's $48,000 flight from Asia on Citigroup's jet?
• Will GE require CNBC anchors to disclose their business relationships with the companies they cover?

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, a Professor of Management at Babson College, and editor of The Cohan Letter. He has appeared as a guest on CNBC and owns Citigroup and GE stock.

Todd & Maria-gate Memo: Butch Thomson and the Sundance Kid originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Jan 2007 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.