The company said it hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to analyse and develop a structure for the transaction. Dun & Bradstreet shares climbed 2 to $29-1/16 on the New York Stock Exchange in anticipation of the move. The company's shares had plunged to around 25 in August after a profit warning on sluggish US sales.

This year results at the Dun & Bradstreet Operating Co, which publishes commercial credit, business marketing and purchasing information, has dragged back the fast-growing Moody's credit rating and bond research operation.

Henry Berghoef, senior analyst at Harris Investments LP, Dun & Bradstreet's largest shareholder with more than 12 per cent of its shares, said the move was positive.

"We're happy with what we see today, but we'd Like to see details. One major issue that needs to be resolved is the leadership for both units, in particular the D&B operating unit," he told Reuters.

D&B is looking for a new permanent Chief executive after Volney Taylor resigned in October. The job is currently filled by interim Chief Clifford Alexander Jr. Berghoef, along with other shareholders, protested against Dun & Bradstreet's poor performance this summer, advocating a complete sale of the company. "That hasn't really changed. The most straight forward answer is an outright sale," Berghoef said on Wednesday. "But we see potential in what they are proposing now for maximizing shareholder value".

Alexander said the separation would "increase shareholder value by unlocking the company's two well-known franchises in the business information arena" and should benefit shareholders and customers. Moody's Investors Service produced about 40 percent of Dun & Bradstreet's $1.04 billion in revenues for the first nine months of this year.

A spin off would be the company's fourth in four years. It has spun off Yellow Pages directory publisher Reuben H. Donnelley Corp.; market research firm ACNielsen Corp.; and high tech and media research firm Cognizant, which it later split into IMS Health Inc. and Nielsen Media Research Inc. Berghoef, whose company holds about $575 million of Dun & Bradstreet shares on behalf of clients, said, "The odds are pretty good that the two independently might add up to a greater value than Dun & Bradstreet on its own". The company said the transaction would be subject to finalboard approval and favourable tax rulings from the Internal Revenue Service.