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Private equity firm, Carlyle, owns skin care company philosophy. On Friday, the Bloomberg financial channel ran a report that Carlyle would seek $1 billion for the line. The report said it is in the early stages of seeking a buyer and calls have gone out to other private equity firms.

As a cynical financial reporter, it would appear that Carlyle first called Bloomberg to get the news out and then it expects the phone to ring off the hook. While philosophy does about two hundred million dollars at retail at QVC and Sephora, it does not have much distribution elsewhere in the U.S., according to sources. Philosophy could easily have a 25 percent pre-tax profit, as the cost of goods for similar skincare line are generally small and operating profits very high. Moreover, there is not much spent for marketing and sales execs. Neither is the brand supported by much advertising spending.

So if philosophy is up for sale, which company or companies can afford the price tag? Sure, Estee Lauder Companies has the financial resources to do so as does Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, LVMH, Shiseido and L’Oreal.

But pundits say Estee Lauder has been buying smaller, add-on companies and this may be a bit too large. These sources also say that Lauder took a pass after looking at Bare Escentuals.

Former J&J exec Michael McNamara left Neutrogena for philosophy and stayed on for a brief time. Although J&J is not a department store operator, its skin care expertise is well-regarded. It owns Neutrogena, RoC and Aveeno. It has international expertise and could fill European apothecaries with the product line and move the line to Asia.

P&G has both department store exposure as well as international marketing prowess. It owns SK-II and Olay and could certainly manage this line as well. But does management want to limit its exposure to beauty and concentrate in personal care and household products?

LVMH owns Sephora and knows the brand’s performance well. Philosophy could fit into LVMH’s assorted product line-up that includes BeneFit, Makeup Forever as well as its designer lines, Christian Dior, Guerlain and Givenchy. But LVMH has been adding smaller, bolt-on acquisitions within the beverage and accessory segments.

Shiseido is quickly building out its Bare Escentuals purchase in Japan and expects Asia to be the largest cosmetics market in the world, according to Bloomberg. Sources say that the relationship between BARE’s CEO Leslie Blodgett has been working out smoothly. Most U.S. pundits did not expect that eventuality. While Shiseido has room for further leverage, a philosophy acquisition could strain finances and management focus, say sources.

L’Oreal has the resources to buy philosophy, but it is embroiled in a strange soap opera that focuses on the competency of its leading stockholder, Liliane Bettencourt. This may keep the world’s largest cosmetics company on the sidelines.