The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, Aug. 20, edition that Magna International is mulling purchases of as much as $4-billion (all figures U.S.). A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post notes Magna has not done an acquisition of more than $500-million in a decade. Chief executive officer Don Walker says Magna today is more willing to take on debt to finance transformative acquisitions than it was when founder Frank Stronach was still involved with the company. Mr. Walker says while Magna would use cash for a small acquisition, it could also take on debt issue equity if the target was "huge." Mr. Walker says: "We have complete flexibility. ... We have good discussions at the board." Mr. Stronach had shied away from debt in the cyclical auto-parts industry. Bloomberg says Magna's largest acquisition since 1990 was the $603-million privatization of its public subsidiary Tesma International in 2004. The combined value of all of Magna's acquisitions since 1990 in which the terms were disclosed is just $3.3-billion. UBS analyst Colin Langan says Johnson Controls' seating business or a complete takeout of Lear would be the mostly likely targets if Magna was looking to bolster its seating business.