MARCHINI: Vivendi's been busy lately. First, now that they plan to buyout MP3.com. Now, a U.S.-based publisher. Lionel Barber is European editor of "The Financial Times," and joins us with a little more on what's up with Vivendi. Why have they been so busy, Lionel?</s>LIONEL BARBER, NEWS EDITOR, "FINANCIAL TIMES": Well, as faithful readers of "The Financial Times" will remember, two months ago, we did a whole-page takeout on Vivendi and Jean-Marie Messier's strategy. That's the big picture of him as Napoleon. And we pointed out that he really needed to do a big acquisition probably in the states to complement his purchase of Universal, that is, through Seagrams. And I think we were hinting, certainly at the time, educational publishing was an important area to fit their strong position on publishing and education in France. And it looks like Houghton Mifflin, that's the Boston-based publisher, is a possibility. But remember, Houghton has been on the blocks for four months, and I think some of the bankers who are touting this story now are interested in getting a nice price.</s>MARCHINI: All right, Lionel Barber of the "FT." Thank you.
Vivendi Looking to Make a Big Acquisition