Bennett, Coleman & Co, the media group behind the Times of India newspaper has denied it has approached Trinity Mirror, publishers of The Mirror.

Market speculation doing the rounds indicated that some shareholders had been approached; this resulted in Trinity Mirror's share price touching a high of 94p at 16:00 yesterday.

Bennett, Coleman & Co is a part of a consortium that acquired Virgin Radio in a £53m deal last month. Trinity Mirror has become a natural market rumour stock following a share price collapse, sparked by a negative trading update last month, which has seen the company fall to a record low of 41.5p last week.

However, some sources have argued that the size of Trinity Mirror's pension liabilities, just over £1.5bn with a pension deficit of around £125m, makes it an unattractive takeover prospect.

Trinity Mirror put out a statement last week, clarifying its debt facilities and pension fund contributions.

A spokeswoman for the Times of India group told MediaGuardian: "There is no truth in the rumours circulating in the press.

"There are no immediate plans to acquire another British media asset as our focus is on the rebrand and further development of our recent acquisition".

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