BC Partners, a private equity firm, is nearing a close on its Eur3 billion (US$3.99 billion) deal to acquire German publisher Springer Science, sources said.

The bidding for the publisher Springer Science is almost ending, with BC Partners being the only remaining bidder. Previous bidders include the Republic of Singapore government and Sweden's EQT private equity firm. They said that they want to hover over the stocks in Germany while looking for a potential sale.

Reuters said that Springer Science lowered its initial sale price of Eur3.5 billion. Current bid leader BC Partners also said that it will not offer anything more than Eur3.15 billion.

"BC Partners absolutely wants Springer Science," an anonymous tipster said. He concluded that the deal could be clinched by BC either Thursday or Friday.

Springer Sciencs+Business Media is one of the largest publishers of scientific journals in the English language, with over 8,000 titles published yearly.