The news comes as Murdoch, the former deputy chief operating officer of News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), raised $28 million after selling half of his stake in his father’s company, where he remains on the board. Murdoch would be joining the consortium through Illyria, his investment company. As we reported previously, the Nielsen magazine bid is being led by Pluribus Capital Management, which includes James Finkelstein, whose News Communications owns The Hill and Who’s Who. Rounding out the group of bidders are Matthew Doull, a former publisher of Wired, and George Green, who retired from Hearst International earlier this year.

B2b magazines have been hit particularly hard by the recession. Even before last year’s global financial meltdown, Nielsen’s magazine titles had been struggling. Since Nielsen makes most of its money from its audience data business, the magazine side sticks out like a sore thumb. Nielsen has repeatedly said it will not comment on the rumors. However, during the Q&A of its most recent Q3 earnings call, CFO Brian West said the company sees value in keeping the magazine assets, though he appeared to place more emphasis on the conference businesses.