Two companies have withdrawn from bidding for Interactive Data Corp. (IDC), the financial data provider majority owned by Pearson PLC (PSO) as the process begins to draw to a conclusion, people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

McGraw-Hill Cos. (MHP), and Hellman & Friedman LLC, both of which were earlier in the bidding for the Bedford, Mass.-based financial data provider, have withdrawn their interest in the asset, these people say.

McGraw Hill wasn't available to comment on its interest in IDC.

The two firms' withdrawal of interest comes as a second round closes in the ongoing auction of IDC, leaving three separate private equity consortia in the running, people said. Second-round bids, which follow a period of some due diligence, or access to confidential financial information, are due 5pm Eastern time Wednesday, people said.

The remaining contenders are a consortium consisting of buyout giant Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. and CVC Capital Partners Ltd.; Warburg Pincus LLC and Silver Lake Partners, and Advent International Corp., bidding with Bain Capital LLC.

Pearson, which publishes the Financial Times newspaper and owns a large U.S. educational publishing business, said in January it was conducting a "preliminary review of strategic alternatives," for IDC, in which it owns a 61% stake. A Pearson spokesman declined to comment. Goldman Sachs (GS), which is running the auction, didn't immediately respond to a call for comment.

Some people familiar with the matter have said that certain bidders felt the price of the asset was in danger of becoming prohibitively high. IDC's stock price has risen by almost a third since January, when it became known that Pearson was reviewing strategic options, although it has since fallen back.

The publicly traded portion of the company's equity is now trading at $32.90, suggesting the transaction value for the whole of IDC could approach $3.5 billion. A successful bidder would likely be expected to write an equity check for roughly $1.4 billion, a person familiar with the matter said.

Goldman Sachs has told bidders it could offer debt financing at a multiple of up to 5.75 times IDC's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, people familiar with the matter said. Other banks have suggested multiples could go as high as 6.5 times Ebitda.

-By Jessica Hodgson and Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; +44207 8429373; jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com.