* Raises stake in Sky Deutschland to almost 40 percent
* Says took advantage of favourable share price * Sky Deutschland shares up almost 11 percent
(Adds News Corp statement, share price)
FRANKFURT/LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp does not plan to raise its stake in German pay-TV company Sky Deutschland after it boosted its share in the broadcaster to almost 40 percent.
"We are very satisfied with our current stake in Sky," a spokesman for News Corp in Germany said, adding that the media group increased its stake because of Sky Deutschland's favourable share price.
Shares in Sky Deutschland, until recently known as Premiere, have lost 61 percent over 12 months, but gained more than 11 percent to 3.5 euros ($5.04) on Wednesday after News Corp raised its stake to 39.96 percent from 30.5 percent.
Given Sky Deutschland's natural fit with News Corp's stable of pay-TV channels with their strong sports content, many observers believe an eventual takeover is likely.
News Corp fully owns Sky Italia and holds a 39 percent stake in Britain's BSkyB.
Murdoch said in February that there were few, if any, companies that would be worth buying, adding that eventually he would like to acquire Premiere AG.
According to German law, a shareholder must make a mandatory take over bid for a company if it crosses the 30 percent threshold, but News Corp has been exempted from that regulation by financial watchdog BaFin, which can waive the regulation if the takeover target is a restructuring case.
Sky Deutschland is due to report on its second quarter on Aug 13. (Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien in London, Nicola Leske in Frankfurt, Peter Maushagen in Munich, editing by Will Waterman) ($1=.6948 Euro)