ITV's Grade in talks over BSkyB stake

ITV Executive Chairman Michael Grade has been approached by "interested parties" over the possible sale of BSkyB's stake in the free-to-air broadcaster, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The source would not give any further details on how many possible suitors had contacted Grade or how advanced the talks were.

Satellite group BSkyB owns 17.9 percent of ITV and is currently challenging a ruling by the Competition Commission that it has to sell down its stake to below 7.5 percent.

The source said Grade had been approached by groups which had shown an interest in the stake. The news sent shares in ITV up 13.3 percent to 43.4 pence at 11 a.m..

The co-founder of producer Endemol, John de Mol, told the Financial Times on Monday that he would not rule out a bid for ITV, which had seen its shares slump over 55 percent this year on concerns about the advertising environment.

Germany's RTL, which owns Channel 5 in Britain, has previously been linked with ITV as it has a target of wanting to be either first or second in each market it is active in. A spokesman for the group declined to comment on Monday.

Italy's Mediaset, which has also been linked with a possible bid for ITV, also declined to comment on Monday, but analysts have told Reuters that the group has privately and recently tried to distance itself from any bid.