May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Navteq Corp. shares rose to their highest in 10 months after a William Blair & Co. analyst said a buyout firm may be interested in acquiring the world's biggest maker of maps used in car navigation systems.

``A private equity owner could find interest in the business, given the duopoly structure of the market, growth potential, strong cash flow'' and lack of debt, analyst William Benton wrote in a note to investors. ``It makes some sense for the company to be private, given the periods of instability in the pricing environment.''

Shares of Navteq have gained 15 percent in the last two days, boosted by speculation that company, whose chairman is former Motorola Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chris Galvin, may be acquired by Google Inc., said Benton. Trading in options to buy Navteq shares surged the most in 10 months yesterday.

Google would be an unlikely buyer of Navteq because the most-used Internet search engine is more focused on advertising than mapping, he wrote. Google, which uses both Navteq and Tele Atlas NV data in its maps, said on May 29 that it would make ``very aggressive'' investments in maps.

Navteq competes with Den Bosch, Netherlands-based Tele Atlas, the world's second-largest maker of maps used in car navigation systems.

Shares of Chicago-based Navteq rose $2.48, or 6.2 percent, to $42.83 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They earlier climbed as much as 11 percent to $44.96, the highest since July 2006.

Wireless

Navteq's 8.3 percent gain yesterday was also fueled by comments from Chief Executive Officer Judson C. Green. He said the wireless market may become the company's largest source of sales.

Green, speaking at the Lehman Brothers Worldwide Wireless and Wireline Conference in New York, said sales to wireless carriers and handset makers in Western Europe and North America will be ``more significant over the next two years.''

Navteq said May 1 that first-quarter profit was 31 cents a share, up from 17 cents a year ago. The results topped the 20- cent average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

The company's call volume reached 8,247 contracts yesterday, a nearly tenfold increase over the average daily volume during the preceding 20 days.

Today, 6,053 call options traded as of 4 p.m. in New York. The most active Navteq option, which gives investors the right to buy the shares at $45 by June 16, more than doubled in price to 90 cents from 35 cents.

Benton maintained his ``outperform'' rating on the stock.

Navteq spokesman Bob Richter did not return a call for comment. Google spokeswoman Amanda Angelotti declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in New York at jkearns3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 31, 2007 16:38 EDT