Shares in news and information provider Reuters jumped this morning on speculation of takeover interest from Canadian information group Thomson, dealers and media analysts said.
Shares in Reuters were up 7.9 per cent at 219p in morning trade, despite a flat overall market. The stock was the biggest gainer in the FTSE 100 index of London's biggest blue chips.
Dealers and analysts said investors were buying the stock on hopes that Thomson, which competes with Reuters in some areas of the market for financial information, was interested in buying the London-listed company.
Reuters shares have lost two-thirds of their value this year as the company's major customers - investment banks, brokerages and fund managers - fall on hard times.
Thomson reported stronger than expected third-quarter profits yesterday as sales of legal, financial, educational and scientific publishing services rose six percent.
Thomson made no public comments at that time about the takeover rumours, which first surfaced a few months ago.
Analysts and fund managers doubted Thomson would make an offer, partly because they believed Thomson was not ready for a major acquisition in the depressed financial information market and because of regulatory concerns.
But they said some investors clearly felt it was possible.