The company, which publishes the Irish Independent, has received a number of approaches for its 40% stake in Austrailian Provincial Newspapers and has appointed Goldmand Sachs to advise on a sale.
A year ago shares in Independent were trading at €2.40 but today they were at just 52 cent.
It has been hammered like many companies on the stock market which have heavy borrowings - Independent has borrowings of €1.4bn.
Today it said if it sold its Australian division it would reduce borrowings to €600m.
The company also announced its net profit will be down by 15-17% due to the advertising downturn.
World wide the group has 180 publications and employs 10,000 staff.
It is headed by Tony O'Reilly but criticised by businessman Denis O'Brien who owns over a quarter of the group.
