It is believed that a consortium of private investors has approached Endemol's owners, Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, with a €5bn (£3.4bn) bid for its 75% stake in the firm.
Telefonica said in May that it had considered selling off the production company on the back of its most successful show.
Speculation mounted at the end of 2004 that the company may be taken over by an outside bidder when it appointed chairman Peter Bazalgette and chief executive Tom Barnicoat to join the international board of the TV business.
The appointments, made by Spanish parent company Telefonica, meant Bazalgette took on the role of chief creative officer and Barnicoat took the role of chief operating officer of Endemol worldwide. The two took over from Jon de Mol and Ronald Goes respectively.
Time Warner, News Corporation and French firm Bollore Group have all been linked with plans to buy the production house.
Endemol has been trading publicly since November 2005 after Telefonica sold 22.3% of its shares to the public.
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