By Christopher Borowski
AMSTERDAM, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Television mogul John De Mol does not want to take operational control of Dutch telecoms group Versatel , but continues to see it as a takeover target for other operators, his spokesman said on Monday.
"We see Versatel as a financially interesting company. Previously it was undervalued and it remains a potential takeover target," said Thomas Notermans, spokesman for De Mol, creator of reality television phenomenon Big Brother.
De Mol's investment vehicle Talpa raised its stake in Versatel to 42 percent from 25 percent over the weekend but Notermans said De Mol considered Versatel as a financial investment and does not want board representation.
Dutch law does not oblige stakeholders to make a public bid for the rest of a company's shares at any stage.
Notermans declined to say whether Talpa would continue to increase its stake or whether it has held talks with potential buyers, such as Sweden's Tele2 or Spain's Telefonica .
Versatel shares jumped as much as 7.3 percent on Monday to their highest since July 2001, and were up 6.5 percent at 2.45 euros by 0930 GMT.
Takeover rumours, boosted by De Mol's aggressive stake-building, have pushed Versatel shares up 70 percent since late October.
"Every time some news breaks about De Mol taking or raising an interest, the flock follows because they're afraid to miss out on a good deal," a trader at a Dutch bank said.
Versatel has grown into a key competitor to Dutch incumbent telecoms operator KPN and has been expanding its foothold in Germany.
Its attraction stems in large part from its fibre-optic network, allowing a foreign operator such as Tele2 to avoid using third-party infrastructure in the Netherlands.
Versatel, which emerged from bankruptcy two years ago, also has a strong balance sheet with hardly any debt.
De Mol's spokesman said he does not plan to cooperate with Versatel on winning Dutch premier league football rights, for which he and the phone group are bidding separately.
The man who created Big Brother hopes to use it as the main attraction to a new TC station he plans to launch in the Netherlands, while Versatel wants to use it to boost its broadband Internet offering.
(Additional reporting by Theo Kolker) ((Reporting by Christopher Borowski, editing by Quentin Bryar;
christopher.borowski@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
christopher.borowski.reuters.com@reuters.net; +31 20 504 5008))