GMG's decision to float an undisclosed minority stake of its wholly owned subsidiary on the London Stock Exchange comes four months after it appointed Merrill Lynch to conduct a strategic review.

GMG acquired the remaining 52% of TMG, which owns printers Apple Web Offset in Warrington, Acorn Web Offset in Normanton, West Yorkshire, and Wiltshire in Bristol, from fund managers BC Partners and GMG management in 2003, at which time the group was valued at just over 1bn.

In a statement, GMG said it had "decided to rebalance the group's current portfolio through the sale".

"This will be affected through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange at some stage during the financial year, subject to market conditions," said the statement.

"This will enable the group to retain a majority stake in Trader Media Group, while enabling further investment in other group businesses and the pursuit of other opportunities."