German telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom would pick a buyer for Scout24, its online classified advertising business. The choices would be one of the four private equity firms that bid for the business, according to a report last Saturday of Focus Magazine.

The four firms, namely Apax, Hellman & Friedman, Silver Lake and TPG Capital would be required to submit final bids by October's end. The report cited a source from the company, according to the report from the weekly magazine. The price for the purchase of Scout24 remains between EUR1.5 billion and EUR2.0 billion, according to Focus.

Deutsche Telekom's Bonn-based spokesperson did not return a call for comment on the news report. No timetable was provided for the decision to be made.

German publisher Axel Springer withdrew from the race for the business but hoped to get the nod. This was the comment from an unnamed source as reported by the magazine.