May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Blinkx Plc, the video-search operator spun off by Autonomy Corp., advanced to a six-month high in London trading since its initial share sale last May on speculation News Corp. may make a takeover bid.

Blinkx rose 6.5 pence, or 26 percent, to 31.5 pence after the Financial Times reported that the company may attract a bid of 60 pence a share. Blinkx said in a statement that it's not ``aware of any external bids or bid-related reason'' for the share-price increase. Blinkx, which rose as much as 53 percent today, has a market value of 88 million pounds ($171 million).

``The market rumor is suggesting News Corp. may be looking to bolster its exposure in this area,'' said Philip Rodrigs, who runs Investec Asset Management's U.K. Smaller Companies Fund, which doesn't own the stock. ``Blinkx's share price indicates corporate activity may be around the corner.''

London-based Blinkx licenses technology that searches for video clips by text, audio and visual content. Its search engine ``is one of the better video technologies out there,'' Rajeev Bahl, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said in a phone interview. Other potential bidders may include ``major search engine companies,'' said Bahl, who recommends investors buy the stock.

The $40 billion online advertising market is dominated by Google Inc., owner of the world's largest search engine. News Corp., led by Chairman Rupert Murdoch, paid $580 million for MySpace in 2005, betting the world's most popular social- networking Web site could be a magnet for advertisers.

Autonomy's Lock-Up

Blinkx has dropped 30 percent since its initial public offering in May last year.

Edward Bridges, a spokesman for Autonomy at Financial Dynamics, declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. Daisy Dunlop, a News Corp. International spokeswoman in London, also declined to comment.

Autonomy, the U.K.'s second-biggest software company, still owns a minority stake in Blinkx. In April 2007, Autonomy said it would have to wait 12 months before it can sell the shares because of restrictions as part of the spin-off. The so-called lock-up period ends May 22.

Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software company, this week scrapped a takeover of Yahoo! Inc., which it had sought to buy to close the gap to Google in Internet advertising.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kari Lundgren in London at klundgren2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 9, 2008 11:49 EDT