Michael Page gains on bid rumour

ZURICH (Reuters) - Shares in Michael Page (MPI.L) rose over 13 percent on Wednesday on speculation that Swiss staffing group Adecco (ADEN.VX) could make an offer valuing the firm around 1.6 billion pounds.

"It is possible that Adecco pays 500 pence per share for Michael Page," said Vontobel analyst Scott Weldon.

"If Adecco does make an offer of any size it will be doing it for shareholder value. They have made it clear they will not overpay...," he said.

Michael Page, which specialises in the professional staffing market, has twice rejected as too low an offer from the world's largest staffing share for 1.3 billion pounds, or 400 pence per share, but its Chief Executive Steve Ingham has said this was not the end of the matter.

By 12:29 p.m. BST, Michael Page shares had risen 13.11 percent to 373.25 pence, while shares in Adecco were up 0.4 percent at 49.96 Swiss francs.

"We are hearing there is speculation that Adecco could offer 500 pence for Michael Page," one trader said.

In a newspaper interview published on Wednesday, Ingham said a sale of the company could be possible at 600 pence per share or more, but said he was a small shareholder and Adecco would have to make other larger shareholders an attractive offer.

Standard Life has a stake of around 11 percent stake.

"The value of the business in our view remains significantly above the current share price," said Lesley Duncan, Investment Director, UK Equities, Standard Life Investments.