Shares in ITV rallied today amid speculation two private equity firms are working on a £6 billion sterling bid for Britain's largest broadcaster.
The shares were up 2 per cent at 117 pence, giving ITV - created last year from the merger of Granada and Carlton Communications - a market value of about £4.5 billion.
The stock is up nearly 10 per cent since outgoing United Business Media chairman Mr Clive Hollick was named a managing director at private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) last week and said buying ITV "would have a nice ring to it".
But one source familiar with the situation said a pricey bid for ITV was far-fetched.
"I think Hollick and KKR are much more likely to buy media businesses that are available at a better price - for example, media assets being sold by larger companies - than pay the high price of a listed stock that ITV would cost," the source said.
Mr Hollick, declining to expand on his previous remarks on ITV, told Reuters news agency in an interview: "I said what I said and I ain't saying no more."
Observers dismissed the idea that Mr Hollick would drive up the price of a potential acquisition target by tipping his hand in public.