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Bain Capital, Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, the former private equity owners of Houghton Mifflin Co., are bidding for Thomson Corp.'s text book publishing unit, sources close to the process said Monday, in a deal that could be worth around $5-billion (U.S.).

German media giant Bertelsmann AG is considering teaming up with that bidding group, according to a separate source. Reuters reported last week that Bertelsmann was mulling an offer with private equity for the unit, but did not identify the firms.

Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus are also involved in the auction, sources said, with the two buyout firms bidding separately for the unit.

As in any auction, the bidding allegiances could change or a sale could fail to materialize.

All five private equity firms have placed preliminary bids and are meeting with Thomson executives, sources said.

A spokesman for Bain Capital did not return a call seeking comment. The other firms declined to comment.

Canada's Thomson Corp. said last October it would sell its Thomson Learning businesses because they no longer fit into the electronic publisher's strategy.

Thomson said at the time it was selling two smaller parts of Thomson Learning, and putting the division's larger textbook publishing unit on the auction block as well, which analysts estimate could be worth around $5-billion. The unit is known within Thomson as Higher Education, Careers and Library Reference.

Thomson has said it expects to have a deal done for that business by the end of the second quarter. A Thomson Learning spokesman would not comment about the bidding parties.

The Stamford, Conn.-based group publishes text books and provides course software and learning services for businesses, schools and government agencies.

The group includes Thomson Nelson, one of Canada's largest providers of books and online resources.

Private equity firms buy companies by borrowing most of the money through their takeover targets, and sell them later either to the public market in an initial public offering or to another buyer.

Bain, Blackstone and Thomas H. Lee bought Boston-based text book company Houghton Mifflin from Vivendi Universal for $1.66-billion in 2002. Dublin-based Riverdeep Holdings Ltd. agreed to buy the publisher from the private equity group last November for $3.4-billion, including debt.

Apax has made several investments in the publishing space, including the acquisition of Dutch publisher PCM Uitgevers BV in 2004. Warburg Pincus has a deep history of media and publishing investing.