Sept 12 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Warburg is

exploring an acquisition of JTC Plc ( JTCPF ) in a possible

challenge to rival Permira's pursuit of the London-listed

financial services firm, Bloomberg News reported on Friday,

citing people familiar with the matter.

Deliberations between New York-based Warburg Pincus and JTC

are ongoing and there's no certainty they will result in a

transaction, the report added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Warburg

declined to comment, while JTC did not immediately respond to

Reuters' requests for comment.

Shares in JTC jumped as much as 11.3% to a record high of

1,306 pence, taking the company's market valuation to over 2

billion pounds ($2.71 billion).

In August, London-listed JTC said it had rejected two

preliminary takeover proposals from British PE firm Permira

without disclosing a reason for its decision.

($1 = 0.7384 pounds)

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi and DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru;

Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini Ganguli)