Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is happy with his current investment in New York Times Co, one of his close aides told Reuters on Monday.

There is no change (in the stake holding), said chief spokesman Arturo Elias. For the time being, we are very happy with the company's performance.

Shares of the U.S. media company rose more than 11 percent on Monday at one point, propelled by a rumor that Slim was seeking to buy the New York Times, where he became a minority stakeholder in 2008. It was trading at $11.52, up 5.3 percent, about an hour before the New York exchange closing, after hitting $12.16 earlier.

(Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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