Independent News & Media says it is looking to sell its 39.1% stake in Australasian radio and newspaper group APN News & Media to reduce its debt by about €800m.
INM says it has received a number of unsolicited expressions of interest for its 39.1% shareholding in APN News & Media.
In a trading update, the Indo group also says that its total revenues and operating profits will be lower for 2008 compared to last year.
INM has been a shareholder in APN News and Media since 1988 and the media group says today it believes it is in the best interests of its shareholders to consider its 'strategic options'.
INM says its board does not believe that APN's current share price reflects the 'inherent value of its underlying assets' and its position in the Australian and New Zealand media.
The company says it has formally informed APN of its intention to explore opportunities 'to monetise its significant shareholding'.
INM has borrowings of €1.4 billion and it says that if it sold its Australian division it would reduce borrowings to €600m.
In an interim management statement, the Indo group also says that it has experienced 'extremely tough trading conditions' - especially in advertising - in both September and October as a result of the global financial crisis. The weak economic environment in Ireland, the UK and New Zealand also hit the firm.
The company says that so far this year, its revenues are only less than 1% compared to the same time last year, with strong revenue performances in South Africa offsetting weaker performances in Ireland and the UK.
However, adverse foreign currency movements have resulted in year to date total group revenues - in euro terms - being over 8% behind last year. Group operating profits, in euro terms, are s just over 10% behind last year.
INM says that based on still limited visibility and if the advertising trends seen in the last couple of months continue for the rest of the year, it expects total revenues for the year to be 2% lower in constant currencies and 11% lower in euro terms.
It says that group operating profits are set to fall by between 11 and 13% in euro terms, while group net profits are set to slump between 15 and 17%.
Independent News & Media says that the current volatile nature of global financial and economic markets make it 'extremely difficult' to reliably forecast for 2009.
'While we believe this volatility is likely to continue for some time, we believe that the recent easing of interest rates across the markets, with the increased probability of further rate reductions, will assist in halting the current economic weakness and may lead to some growth towards the second half of 2009,' the media group says.
It added that assuming the economic outlook and advertising conditions do not further weaken, it is forecasting that constant currency revenues for 2009 will only be marginally weaker than in 2008.
Shares in the company soared by 28% to close at 64 cent in Dublin this evening - up 14 cent.
