Let the deals begin! After a lamb-like first quarter, April roared in like a lion. More deals are close but can't be public yet.

Are we teeing up another round of irrational exuberance last seen in dot-com days? Hardly. A little closer examination of the deals analyzed in this issue shows that companies are doing their homework on value. You have to look behind the multiples of earnings paid to see the real story.

In the case of Noland Company, it's hard to imagine a traditional distribution company, a competitor, putting as much money on the table as WinWholesale because of some long-term weaknesses, including being undercapitalized. Yet when you look at the pieces that fit for WinWholesale's unique operating model, Noland's weaknesses look a lot ...