Expect More Buys Like Georgia-Pacific

This column was originally published on RealMoney on Nov. 14 at 8:42 a.m. EST. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.

The anomaly is in our face every day: How could companies get so little respect in the public markets and yet be so lusted after in the private markets? Georgia-Pacific(GP Quote) has been disrespected for several decades on Wall Street. Whether it be asbestos, or questionable acquisitions that ultimately worked out, or spinoffs that made others fortunes but not G-P (Georgia Gulf(GGC Quote)!), G-P just never got a multiple. I mean, this thing has been selling at 12 times earnings since it was invented.

Until Sunday, when a smart company with the natural resources to cut the big energy bill got together with it. The combination is so sweet that the acquirer, Koch Industries, had room to pay a substantial premium.

Now, I know that the word out there among the graybeards is that there is too much money, too much buyout money, chasing equities these days and that when rates go up, it will become a fools' game. ...