Sky News has learnt that Teads, which has been owned by Mr Drahi's Altice Group, and Tremor have been holding talks about a possible combination of the two businesses in recent months.

The precise status of the discussions was unclear on Monday, although banking sources said Tremor had attracted several expressions of interest during the summer.

Tremor, which provides digital advertising solutions to clients such as Amazon, Disney and X - formerly known as Twitter - is not currently engaged in a formal sale process.

The company has seen its shares suffer amid the wider technology downturn, with its value having halved in the last 12 months.

That fall has taken place despite the completion of the integration of Amobee, which Tremor bought last year for $230m.

One industry banker said a merged Teads and Tremor would boast combined revenues of $1bn and $300m of profit.

Among the directors responsible for determining Tremor's future is Rebekah Brooks, the boss of News UK, publisher of The Times and The Sun.

Shares in Tremor were trading on Monday at around 159.2p, giving the company a market value of just £225m.

Tremor declined to comment, while Teads did not respond to a series of emailed enquiries.