Media Ventures Investments is understood to have been sounding out potential partners about putting together an offer. So far, it is reported to have approached former Channel 5 chief executive David Elstein and other venture capitalists, as it is thought unlikely that it could fund the deal alone.
One potential candidate is German bank WestLB, which is also thought to be interested in the merged company.
The bank is understood to have spoken to ITV shareholders about whether or not they would back an approach by it.
However, it is thought unlikely that Carlton and Granada would back such a deal as they may want to realise the potential benefits of the merger before selling up.
Media analyst Richard Hitchcock from Numis Securities was sceptical about the news. He said a venture capitalist takeover was "quite unlikely" as the first phase of consolidation is going to be Carlton and Granada getting together.
"Then they'll want to look at smaller groups such as SMG to create a harmonised ITV and then drag as many benefits from that merger as possible and hope for a cyclical advertising recovery," Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock added that the merger would be a "lengthy drawn-out process with regulatory hurdles, as management would want to strip out cost savings as much as possible".
He believes that a venture capitalist bid would not get off the ground because after a few years, the merged company might then start to look at offers from non-EU companies once the communications bill goes through.
Peter Clark, head of MVI, told the Daily Mail this morning that the group had done some "preliminary research work" about a possible bid, but a move was not imminent.
A spokesman for Granada said the two companies were concentrating on their merger submission to the Office of Fair Trading and had no comment to make about the reports.
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