Private equity firm in Chrysalis radio talks: source

LONDON (Reuters) - British media company Chrysalis Group Plc (CHS.L) is in talks with an unnamed private equity group over the sale of its radio unit, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.

Chrysalis said in February it had launched a strategic review that could lead to the sale of the unit which includes the popular Heart 106.2 station. It said in March that it had received a number of approaches and a conclusion should be reached by the summer.

The source said Chrysalis had received a number of offers from trade and private equity groups and said the talks were progressing well. The source declined to comment on the names of any of the parties involved.

Analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort said in a recent note that the group could achieve a sale of 170 million pounds ($335.5 million) although they questioned whether the Chrysalis management would be happy with that price.

Shares in Chrysalis opened more than 5 percent higher on Wednesday morning at 125-1/4 on a Financial Times report on the private equity group talks but they had fallen back to 120-1/2 by 1025 GMT.