We present L ^ { \prime } and J -band high-contrast observations of HD169142 , obtained with the VLT/NACO AGPM vector vortex coronagraph and the Gemini Planet Imager , respectively . A source located at 0 ” .156 \pm 0 ” .032 north of the host star ( PA =7.4 ^ { \circ } \pm 11.3 ^ { \circ } ) appears in the final reduced L ^ { \prime } image . At the distance of the star ( \sim 145 pc ) , this angular separation corresponds to a physical separation of 22.7 \pm 4.7 AU , locating the source within the recently resolved inner cavity of the transition disk . The source has a brightness of L ^ { \prime } =12.2 \pm 0.5 mag , whereas it is not detected in the J band ( J > 13.8 mag ) . If its L ^ { \prime } brightness arose solely from the photosphere of a companion and given the J - L ^ { \prime } color constraints , it would correspond to a 28-32 M _ { Jupiter } object at the age of the star , according to the COND models . Ongoing accretion activity of the star suggests , however , that gas is left in the inner disk cavity from which the companion could also be accreting . In this case the object could be lower in mass and its luminosity enhanced by the accretion process and by a circumplanetary disk . A lower mass object is more consistent with the observed cavity width . Finally , the observations enable us to place an upper limit on the L ^ { \prime } -band flux of a second companion candidate orbiting in the disk annular gap at \sim 50 AU , as suggested by millimeter observations . If the second companion is also confirmed , HD169142 might be forming a planetary system , with at least two companions opening gaps and possibly interacting with each other .