DATE: Tuesday, June 3, 1997                 TAG: 9706030255

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: 1D   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NEW YORK                          LENGTH:   21 lines

SALE RUMORS PUSH IFE STOCK UP $4

Shares of International Family Entertainment Inc. jumped 14 percent Monday on renewed speculation that a deal is close for a purchase of The Family Channel's parent company.

IFE's shares closed Monday at $31.875, up $4, a 52-week high.

Word has emerged several times over the past few weeks that a takeover was imminent, only to be met with silence. Until recently, the lone bidder was said to be Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Recent reports have put Walt Disney Co. in the race as well.

International Family Entertainment, whose controlling shareholder and chairman is Virginia Beach businessman Pat Robertson, is said to have received a bid of $1.8 billion from News Corp., the trade publication Variety reported.

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