Premium-rate phone service company Eckoh, which has seen its revenues slump because of this year's participation-TV scandals, has confirmed it has received several bid approaches.

Eckoh, the UK's largest provider of hosted speech recognition services, confirmed to the City today that it had received "preliminary approaches from more than one party regarding various proposed corporate transactions".

The company said the bid approaches "may or may not lead to an offer being made" for its entire issued share capital.

"Discussions with one of the parties are ongoing but are at an early stage and that there is no certainty that they will lead to an offer being made," it said in a statement.

The Daily Telegraph reported today that Eckoh was believed to be in discussions with three parties, which are understood to include one British and two American firms all operating in the speech solutions sector.

Two of the proposals were based around a cash deal, while the other would involve a mix of cash and shares, according to the Telegraph.

If any formal offer does emerge, it is likely to be at a premium to Eckoh's current share price.

Yesterday, Channel 4 said it planned to take legal action against Eckoh to recover costs after being hit with a £1m Ofcom fine for Richard & Judy's You Say, We Pay phone-in.

Eckoh, which operated the You Say, We Pay phone lines before the competition was suspended in February, responded that it would "robustly defend" the action.

Eckoh's shares closed at 6.25p yesterday, giving the company a market valuation of £12.5m.

On Monday, Eckoh revealed that half-year income from premium-rate services had slumped to £13m due to a collapse in telephone voting.

The firm, which is listed on the Aim exchange, has had a torrid time this year, finding itself at the centre of the participation-TV scandals that have dogged the industry.

Eckoh is also one of ITV's main phone line suppliers, although the contract ends early in the new year.

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