German pay television group Premiere is unaware of any plans by big shareholder News Corp to acquire the company, Premiere said on Friday, declining further comment on what it called speculation.

It was responding to a report in the Wall Street Journal newspaper citing a person familiar with the matter as saying News Corp may bid for Premiere and Spain's Digital+.

News Corp already holds just over 25 percent in Premiere, whose shares were up 1.3 percent at 14.10 euros by 0719 GMT, making them the second-biggest gainers among German mid-cap stocks.