Morningstar analyst Tim Mann told the Australian Financial Review that Seven did not have the balance sheet to acquire the $1.5 billion company.

"They may well creep up the register over time but it is hard to see them making a formal takeover," he told the newspaper.

Credit Suisse analyst Martin Kronborg said Seven's Beach stake was too large to be a value play.

"Someone certainly thinks there's a takeover coming," he told Australian Financial Review.

"Seven clearly has a reason for taking 14% and depending on what that reason is, if they think another buyer is waiting or they are working with another buyer, they might take an additional stake but it's a very large company for them to take alone."

An opinion column on the newspaper's site this morning also suggested that international companies were on the prowl.

"Street Talk revealed that international private equity firms and Chinese money had also been looking at the Cooper Basin, which could present Seven with other potential partners should it chose to go down the acquisition trail," the newspaper reported.