Corporate Services Group has said it is looking to float off a minority stake in Comensura, its managed service operation.

The flotation is likely to be in the second half of this year. Comensura is a vendor neutral managed service provider. Clients include Alcatel, Carphone Warehouse, and several local authorities including Cambridge City Council, City of London, Coventry City Council and Lancashire County Council.

Julian Young, Comensura's managing director, set up the operation in 2001, having joined CSG in 1999. Young said the unusual nature of Comensura provided some of the rationale for the sale. He told Recruiter: "It's a bit different from the other parts of the group. There's a lot of recruitment expertise on the CSG Board. But we [Comensura] don't recruit anybody."

He said that senior CSG staff had already met with potential investors about the flotation and there was strong investor interest. He said CSG would probably float more than 25% of the company. He said he was looking forward to the challenges of heading up his own listed company. "It's a great opportunity for my career progression," he said.

The need for CSG, owner of the Blue Arrow chain, to reduce debt is also behind the sale. It currently has net debt of £52.7m, among the highest in the sector.

The company said: "Generally the directors believe that it is appropriate to reduce net debt from its current level of 5.1 times Earnings Before Interest Taxation Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) to no more than 2.5 times EBITDA over the medium term.

"This will be achieved by a combination of growing cash flow from operations, and also by the Board continuing to review its portfolio of businesses to see whether it continues to be appropriate to retain all its businesses."

In 2006, Comensura reported net fee income of £5.1m, up from £2.6m in 2005. It reported EBITDA of £1.8m, up from £0.4m. Comensura is difficult to value, say analysts, who put a wide range of £20m-45m on its value.