LONDON (Bloomberg) — Man Group Plc jumped the most in four months after a filing showed Blackrock Inc. owns a 10 percent stake in the largest publicly traded hedge-fund manager, and a newspaper said Man Group may be a takeover target.

The UK's Daily Mail today reported that Man Group may be on the "radar screen" of Blackrock for a "mega corporate deal," without saying where it got the information. BlackRock isn't interested in a takeover of Man Group, said a person who spoke to the New York-based firm's chief executive officer Laurence Fink yesterday.

BlackRock's stake in Man Group is through investment funds that it manages for clients. The firm would be unlikely to accumulate Man Group shares through its asset-management arm if it were considering a bid, said Phil Dobbin, an analyst at Shore Capital in London.

"It's been rumoured before," said Dobbin, who has a "buy" recommendation on Man Group. "On the basis of these statements you can't make any conclusions."

Man Group spokesman Simon Anderson declined to comment on "market speculation." Bobbie Collins, a spokeswoman for BlackRock, said the firm has a policy of not commenting on market rumours.

The confusion may have arisen from talks in the past month that BlackRock held with Man Group regarding leasing office space in London, said the person close to BlackRock, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.