The heavily indebted company, which owes around £400m, was reported to have been told by its bankers to break up, according to a report in The Business newspaper.
However, SMG denied that there was any truth behind the story. A spokesman for SMG said: "The story that we plan to break up the business in any way is utter nonsense."
The group has accused Andrew Neil, publisher of the Barclay brothers-owned The Business, of trying to destabilise Scotland's largest media group.
SMG owns the Scottish Television and Grampian ITV franchises; The Evening News, The Herald and Sunday Herald newspapers; Virgin Radio; a 30% in Scottish Radio Holdings; and cinema advertising company Pearl & Dean.
The Barclay Brothers own rival Scottish newspaper The Scotsman. There has been talk for some time of merging The Herald and The Scotsman to create a stronger Scottish daily.
Last year, SMG hired Deloitte & Touche to look at ways to reduce its debt burden, which is partly the result of several acquisitions at the top of the market.
It is thought that its main assets, Virgin Radio and the two ITV franchises, would be the first to go. Its much larger rival Granada, which is also an 18% shareholder in SMG, has already acquired an option to buy the two ITV franchises, although it may face regulatory hurdles. There are thought to be a number of interested buyers in Virgin Radio, including radio group Chrysalis.
With the sell-off of the main assets completed, it would leave chief executive Andrew Flanagan the option of forging a new path for SMG as a regional newspaper company.
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