Privately owned broking house Shaw Stockbroking will spin off its financial news website, Egoli, into an independent company ahead of a possible float of the business.
The separation of Egoli from its parent will free the website from licensing restrictions that apply to Shaw as a financial services provider. Egoli has 80,000 individual browsers every month.
With more room to move, the site hopes to boost advertising and its individual browser numbers to 500,000 within three years.
Shaw's managing director, Harold Shapiro, said there was a lot of competition in the online business news space but there was no plan to simply sell up after the split.
''When we get to the 500,000 level it becomes a viable business,'' he said.
''It can then get a value. It [floating] is one of the options that will be considered.''
Established in 1996, Egoli claims to be one of the first financial news websites in Australia and turns an annual profit of about $400,000.
Shaw, celebrating its 21st year in business, has polished up its logo and, despite a softer financial services market, has opened an extra floor for dealers at its Sydney site. AAP