According to reports in The Guardian today, Lord Hollick the head of United Business Media, which owns 35% of Five, and executives of RTL, which owns the remainder, have met the fund manager in New Jersey.
Cooperation could also come in the form of a programming and distribution deal. This, along with the option of a sales house merger, could help Five compete with the newly merged ITV, which accounts for 52% of all TV advertising.
RTL and United have declined to comment on the talks.
At last month's results presentation for United, Lord Hollick said: "Everyone is talking to everyone else in this market against a background of ITV consolidation."
However no deal is expected to be made until Telewest has restructured its debts in June or July. It is currently undergoing a massive debt restructuring programme.
Five's chief executive Jane Lighting joined last April from the Telewest-owned Flextech, which owns five digital channels and the UKTV joint venture with the BBC.
Five's future has been speculated on several times since the ITV merger. Most recently, talk has been of a full-blown merger with Channel 4 or the lesser option of a joint sales house with Channel 4 and BSkyB.
Last week Sky won the contract to supply news to Five beating ITN, which has provided news to the channel since it launched in 1997, in a deal estimated to be worth £40m.
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