The Economist has made it to through to the second round of an auction for Jane's Information Group, the owners of Jane's Defence Weekly.
It is believed the Economist Group views Jane's Information Group as a good fit with its own Economist Intelligence Unit.
The group is valued at between £50m to £100m and other bidders are said to include Reed Elsevier and private equity groups 3i and Carlyle.
Management presentations have already taken place and a deal is likely to be struck within weeks.
Jane's was put on the auction block earlier this year by the Woodbridge Company, which is controlled by one of Canada's wealthiest families, the Thomsons. The family also has a stake in the Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail.
Jane's has more than 100 different publications across 140 countries, providing data, information and intelligence on militaries, navies, governments, securities and companies.
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