Shares of Scripps Networks Interactive soared more than 11 percent after the market closed on Tuesday on a news report that Discovery Communications is considering a bid for the sought-after cable company.
Discovery's board discussed making a possible run at Scripps, home to the Food Network and HGTV, according to a report in Variety citing a person with knowledge of the Discovery board meeting.
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Representatives for Discovery and Scripps Networks declined to comment.
Discovery's businesses include Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, and it operates Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network under a joint venture.
On the distribution side, the cable industry has been a hotbed of potential merger activity. The latest target is Time Warner Cable, which is being circled by competitors Comcast and Charter Communications. (Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.)
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Shares of Scripps closed at $75.25 in regular trade on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
—By Reuters