Apax, which has approached ITV twice before, has teamed up with Provident and KKR according to the report.
In the event they make a bid, the trio want the approval of the ITV board, led by executive chairman Michael Grade.
Apax is not working with Greg Dyke, the former BBC director-general who fronted its bid with Goldman Sachs and Blackstone in early 2006.
ITV's share price opened the trading session at 79.9p, but has receded during morning trading as the market gave the news a lukewarm reception.
It hit an all-time low of 68.2p on January 11 ahead of a ruling by the government that BSkyB would have to sell more than 10% of the company's shares to reduce its stake from 17.9% to less than 7.5%.
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