Buy now: one third of Trade Me up for sale

Just a few months after rumours of a sale began to surface, Fairfax Media has confirmed it is looking to offload between 30 and 35% of public auction site Trade Me.

Details are still scarce, with no estimates of value or timeframe being offered, although David Kirk, who was at the helm of Fairfax when it purchased Trade Me for over $700 million in 2006, has agreed to serve as non-executive chairman.

Fairfax announced its sale intentions at the same time as it reported a full-year net loss of A$390.9 million. Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood told media the company would use the proceeds from the sale to increase dividends and repay debts.

Trade Me says things are business as usual, and will remain that way if and when a partial sale is completed.

"The way Trade Me works, and our focus on providing a safe and trusted marketplace for kiwis to buy and sell will remain the same,” a post on the site reads.

"We’ll be in touch again when we can say more without getting into trouble.”

Trade Me featured prominently in Microsoft's Tech.Ed conference last week. Read about their plea for skilled staff here.