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Going Wells Fargo one better

Yesterday Zac Bissonnette reported that Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) employs a historian to create genealogies for their wealthiest customers, and wealthy non-customers they wish to cultivate. This caused me to wonder if this stroke of genius might not be transferable to other markets. In this age when every business is identifying their best customers, might they not reward their customers with the services of a professional? For example:

And for you, our most loyal and treasured BloggingStocks reader: A personal chef, to prepare and serve my bologna.

Turning a page: Reader's Digest goes private

Reader's Digest is a true American success story. Founded in 1922, the magazine's first print run was 5,000 -- and the retail price was 25 cents. Eventually, the magazine would become the biggest in the world.

But nothing lasts forever. In the case of Reader's Digest, the brand started to get crusty and its financial performance suffered as a result.

Now the company has decided to go private in a $1.6 billion deal. The lead investor is Ripplewood Holdings, which has lots of experience in the media world.

True, Reader's Digest has a diversified set of media assets, such as videos, books, music and so on. However, the company was particularly late in terms of moving onto the Net and in many ways still seems old-fashioned and a bit crusty.

As a result, the price tag is a tepid $17 per share. This is only an 8% premium.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.

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DJIA+73.0311,288.54
NASDAQ-6.082,245.38
S&P 500+1.381,262.90

Last updated: July 04, 2008: 08:01 PM

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