Cinven, the UK-based private equity house, is in talks to bring in Apax Partners as a co-investor in its deal to acquire the business-to-business publishing unit of Vivendi Universal, the French media and communications company, for €2bn ($1.8bn).

A source close to the discussions said that Cinven had always intended to take on a partner to share the financial burden of the large Vivendi deal, as well as share the ongoing capital requirements in order to build the business. No agreement has yet been reached as to the structure of the partnership or the size of the firms' shareholdings. Details should be ironed out by the end of October, which is when Vivendi had planned for the sale to complete.