There is speculation that a big name prospective buyer is looking to acquire business social network LinkedIn, after its co-founder and chairman said that he would be open to an offer.

US venture capital blog, VentureBeat, speculates there might be an as yet unnamed large company buying business social network LinkedIn, after a board meeting that "went way over the scheduled time", and sources who say "good news" is on the way.

LinkedIn, like fellow social media companies Digg and Plaxo, is an independent company — potentially appealing to both technology and media companies, and are currently too small for initial public offerings, but big and influential enough so that an acquisition would be a huge deal for the industry.

News Corp. had reportedly been interested in LinkedIn, but the chances of an acquisition by the media giant now are slim, after it opted instead to buy US news outlet Newsday.

Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and board chairman, meanwhile, has said that the company will likely pursue an IPO before 2010 unless the right "suitor" makes a deal he can't refuse.

LinkedIn would not comment on the possibility of a sale.