A JOINT bid by Cinven and Candover has emerged as a frontrunner in the auction to buy Bertelsmann’s £650m scientific-publishing business.

The decision by potential trade buyers such as Reed Elsevier not to join the auction for Bertelsmann Springer has moved the two private-equity houses to the front of the queue of bidders. A sale is expected to be arranged by March.

One source said: “We no longer expect any of the big players in the market such as Wolters Kluwer or Thomson Corporation to make a move. And the offer from Cinven and Candover is strong.”

Bertelsmann is selling the business, which publishes professional magazines and information for doctors, economists and engineers, to refocus on its television and music interests. In Britain, the German media giant owns Channel 5 and Random House, the publisher.

Private-equity firms such as Cinven and Candover have been attracted to the publishing firm because it has stable subscriptions and scope for price rises. It makes profits of more than £46m. Raising a large bank loan to help finance the deal would be made easier by this secure cashflow.

The two worked together on a similar deal last year when they purchased the £600m academic-publishing business of Wolters Kluwer, the Dutch group. In April Cinven took over Vivendi’s French trade-magazines arm.

Gunter Thielen, Bertelsmann’s chairman, has signalled that Springer would not be sold if bids did not exceed £650m.

Bertelsmann is making cutting its debt burden a priority, after the forced departure in August of Thomas Middelhoff, its high-flying chief executive.

Its debt problems were exacerbated late last year when Clive Calder, founder of the Zomba music business, exercised a £2 billion option forcing Bertelsmann to buy the shares it did not hold in the company.

Selling Springer will help to ease this financial burden.