Shares of CKX Inc jumped by a third of their value Friday, a day after The Wall Street Journal reported American Idol creator Simon Fuller and former Barclays Capital top dealmaker Roger Jenkins are planning a $600 million bid for the company.

Fuller and Jenkins, who have amassed a $1 billion fund to make strategic acquisitions, are making plans to submit a letter detailing their offer to purchase the company the Journal reported late on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The news comes close on the heels of CKX's founder Robert Sillerman's resignation as its CEO and chairman on May 7, in view of a possible acquisition. Sillerman is also the company's largest shareholder.

On March 27, Wall Street Journal had reported that CKX was in the late stages of a buyout transaction led by JP Morgan's private-equity branch, One Equity Partners.

CKX, which has the rights to the Idols television brand, including the American Idol series in the United States and local adaptations of the television show format, later confirmed that it is in talks that could lead to a sale of the company.

Fuller and Jenkin's possible bid would top the One Equity Partners' offer, which at $6 a share, valued the company at $558 million, at the time of the bid.

The entertainment group also holds rights to the names, images and likenesses of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.

CKX shares, which lost 36 percent of their value over the last year, were up 80 cents, at $5.12 in late morning trade on Nasdaq. They touched a high of $5.73 earlier in the session.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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