Kinowelt Medien's shares on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt jumped by over 20% on speculation that the Bertelsmann media empire was considering a takeover of the Munich-based concern.

By 16.36 (German time) the stock had risen 19.11% on the previous day of trading to Euros15.02 after a report in Welt am Sonntag had suggested that Bertelsmann had been signalling interest in Kinowelt. One of the traders at the Frankfurt exchange told the dpa news agency that Kinowelt was "an attractive candidate for a takeover" because of its low market capitalisation (currently Euros367.69m), while the investment house Merck Finck & Co was cited as regarding a takover as "probable".

However, a Bertelsmann spokeswoman had put a damper on the speculation earlier in the day, telling the business news service vwd that Bertelsmann was not wanting to take Kinowelt over.