That's the way the Business Online puts the media conglomerate's nest egg, which is specifically designed for acquisitions along the lines of its recent buyout of Time Warner (now called Hachette Book Group USA here, and Little, Brown Book Group in the UK.) And with the news of this slush fund, there's now speculation that Lagardere might take a look at acquiring more Time Warner assets -- or even the US publishing company Condé Nast, which is owned by Advance Publications and publishes magazines including Vogue and Tatler.

And just to add further fuel in the fire, there are additional possibilities: More likely, Viacom might sell off Simon and Schuster, but given the right offer, News Corp. might do the same with publisher HarperCollins (though it doesn't seem terribly likely in this corner.) But most importantly, an extra billion in assets would enhance the company's share price by 10 percent, making it even more attractive to potential new acquisitions...