Freeserve saw its share price rocket today on speculation it was about to be gobbled up by Italian rival Tiscali.

Shares in the Dixons-owned ISP surged by 19 per cent at one point, propelled to 176.77 pence on the back of the gossip.

And it was all thanks to The Times, which today reported rumours that a deal with Tiscali, which in September bought Dutch ISP World Online for £3.5 billion, "may be easier to forge" for Freeserve.

The British ISP is not averse to takeover talks - it previously chatted with Germany's T-Online.

Tiscali denied it was planning a bid for Freeserve, according to Reuters. Freeserve was keeping mum. Its shares dropped back to 161 pence by close of the market today, 11 pence higher than last July's flotation price. ®

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