Four agencies are competing for the brief: Brunswick, Tulchan Communications, Citigate Dewe Rogerson and incumbent Financial Dynamics.
FD has handled Emap's relations with the City community for at least five years.
Emap, headed by group CEO Robin Miller, declined to comment on the agency rethink, but it is understood the pitch comes as part of a wider review of advisers, which began nearly two years ago.
The adviser reshuffle has since seen investment bankers Schroder Salomon Smith Barney and Lazards brought on board, alongside PricewaterhouseCoopers as auditors and Slaughter and May as the firm's retained legal advisers.
Emap group comms director Miranda Acland is co-ordinating the PR pitch, which sources indicate may conclude by the end of the month.
The financial comms brief is believed to centre around press relations work, but is also said to involve the maintenance of links with City analysts.
The successful agency will report into Acland, who joined a year ago from Capital Radio, where she was head of corporate communications. It is expected the chosen consultancy will aim to increase understanding of Emap and its business strategies among UK financial audiences.
Emap has seen mixed fortunes of late. Miller, a former editor of Motorcycle News, took the CEO job for a second time following the departure of predecessor Kevin Hand after a disastrous foray into the US market.
An attempt to muscle in on US publishing ended with Hand being forced out, a £545m write down on the value of its investment and the eventual disposal of those assets for £365m, just over a third of the what was paid for them.
Miller was Emap's chief executive for 13 years until 1998 but had taken on the chairman's role when Hand was appointed CEO.
In a statement last month, the company said it was expecting a rise in interim profits of two per cent for the last six months. Circulation was up seven per cent across the group.
