Shares in the owner of Rebel Sport and Amart Sports have surged on speculation large foreign sports retailers want to buy into in the company.

Super Retail Group’s shares gained 85 cents, or 12.1 per cent, to $7.90, while the wider market fell.

The move followed reports the world’s largest sports retailer, Intersport, or British retailer Sports Direct, were behind approaches to Super Retail shareholders about buying a chunk of the company.

A spokeswoman for Super Retail said CEO, Peter Birtles, was not aware of any approach.

“Given where the share price is, he thinks it’ll be unlikely that any major shareholder would be looking at selling at this stage,” she said.

Super Retail shares have roughly halved in value in the past 12 months.

AAP