Hasbro says it is not in talks with a private equity firm to go private.

The toy maker is making the statement after a report in the Wall Street Journal Thursday cited unnamed sources saying Hasbro was in early talks to be taken private by Providence Equity Partners.

The maker of Nerf, Transformers and Scrabble says it is not having any discussions regarding its sale. Providence declined to comment.

Hasbro says it was approached by a private equity firm, but its board of directors determined it had no interest in pursuing a deal.

Trading in the Pawtucket, R.I.-based company's shares was briefly halted after they rose as much as 10 percent before the market opened because of the report.

Shares were up 2.7 percent Thursday morning.