Stereo equipment magnate Sidney Harman is close to sealing a deal to buy Newsweek magazine from The Washington Post Co, according to a Monday report on The New York Times' Media Decoder blog.

Harman, the founder of audio equipment company Harman International Industries Inc, was one of a handful of bidders for the magazine, including former New York Daily News publisher Fred Drasner and OpenGate Capital, publisher of TV Guide.

The Washington Post Co declined to comment. Representatives for Harman, Drasner and OpenGate did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Washington Post Co put the troubled newsweekly up for auction in May after years of losses. The magazine lost close to $11 million during the first-quarter.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)