ITV's bid to acquire Friends Reunited could be about to inked, according to the Sunday Times.

The paper reports that the £120m take-over could be announced as early as this week after months of speculation about the future of the reunion site.

The deal is expected to tie-in senior execs and key staff, who, in return, can also expect a pay-off of up to £50m if certain performance targets are hit over the next three years.

Broadcaster ITV became the front-runner for the acquisition of Friends Reunited four weeks ago elbowing aside rival suitors including BT, News Corp and Daily Mail & General Trust.

ITV - which is currently dipping its toes into the broadband TV scene - is keen to use Friends Reunited's huge user base to help it make money from the Net.

Friends Reunited was asked to comment on the report but no one from the company was available for comment at the time of writing. ®