Although a trade publication speculates a deal is near, The World Company still owns Sunflower Broadband, a Lawrence-based provider of cable-television, Internet and telephone service in Lawrence and northeast Kansas. (The World Company also owns the Journal-World.)

Dolph C. Simons Jr., company chairman, issued a statement Wednesday after Multichannel News reported that Georgia-based Knology was “close to a deal” to acquire Sunflower.

“The World Company is complimented that a number of companies have expressed interest in its Sunflower division over the years,” Simons said. “This continues today. There is no definitive agreement concerning Sunflower with any company at this time.”

Knology operates in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee.