The rapid - and broadly successful - expansion of Russia's leading dairy products and fruit juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann has led to inevitable speculation that it will be targeted for takeover by one or more of the leading dairy groups in the west.

Top of the list of potential buyers are Swiss group Nestlé , which was rumoured last year to be interested in taking a controlling stake in WBD, and France's Danone , which already has around a 6 per cent stake in the company.

But while the rumour mill has been relatively quiet recently regarding Nestlé's possible interest in WBD, Danone has frequently been linked to a takeover bid, with the rumours rising to the surface once again just last month.

Wimm-Bill-Dann , however, is playing them down. "I would be flattered if a company like Danone wanted to buy a stake in Wimm-Bill-Dann, but I don't know of any such plan," chairman David Yakobashvili told an investor conference hosted by Renaissance Capital yesterday.

According to Dow Jones, Danone is thought to have offered to buy a 51 per cent stake in WBD, a suggestion given more weight by the fact that the Russian firm's shares have risen by around 8 per cent over the last week.

Danone has remained silent about the rumours - in fact, it has a history of keeping mum about its investments in WBD, with even the 6.25 per cent stake it already has being hushed up.