Pandora Media's stock spiked nearly 6 percent on Monday after a report said it hired an advisory firm about strategic options that may include a sale.
Pandora hired Centerview Partners, a boutique advisory firm, which may be asked to run a sales process for Pandora, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in a Monday report. The music-streaming company has faced pressure to put itself up for sale from Corvex, a hedge fund and activist investor, Bloomberg's Alex Sherman and Lucas Shaw reported.
Pandora did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the reports. For more on Pandora's strategic options, see the full story at Bloomberg.com.
Pandora has been the subject of takeover chatter since last week, when The Wall Street Journal reported that Liberty Media had made an offer for the company. Pandora reportedly rejected the $15-per-share offer from Liberty — which controls competitor Sirius XM — hoping for a better offer, the Journal said.
Still, at Pandora's current valuation, mergers and acquisitions may not be likely, Pacific Crest Securities analysts Andy Hargreaves and Evan Wingren said in a note published by Barron's.
Shares of Pandora
"Pandora is burning a significant amount of cash and the challenges to its business model do not appear changeable through scale or a change of ownership," they wrote.
Co-founder Tim Westergren, who returned as CEO earlier this year, has laid out plans to collaborate with musicians and ramp up ads and personalization on the platform. Corvex has called Pandora's business plan "costly and uncertain."
"I think we can build a business that's successful, that's actually also driving value for musicians," Westergren told CNBC this spring.