British online travel retailer Lastminute.com has received a bid approach, sending its shares as much as 43 per cent higher today to give a market value of about £515 million.
"The board of lastminute.com notes today's share price movement and confirms that it has received an approach which may or may not result in an offer being made for the company," lastminute said in a statement.
A spokeswoman declined to name the firm's suitor, nor to say how much it might be prepared to pay.
At 12:10pm, lastminute's shares were up 36 per cent at 143-1/2 pence, after touching an 8 month high of 150p. Lastminute sells holidays and flights over the Internet at short notice.
It was hit hard by the bursting of the dot.com bubble and the downturn in tourism during the recent global economic downturn.
The firm has long been tipped as a potential takeover target, with analysts mentioning US internet group IAC/InterActiveCorp as a possible suitor. IAC owns travel site Expedia, which it plans to spin off later this year.
"There's a lot of consolidation in the sector. To make money in the online travel business, you need scale," said Robin Chhabra, an industry analyst at brokers Evolution Securities, who tipped Expedia as a potential bidder.
US travel and real estate company Cendant agreed to buy lastminute's rival Ebookers for £209 million last year.
Lastminute posted a slimmer-than-expected first-quarter loss in February, after three successive quarters of missing forecasts.