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Internet media network Lycos Inc. is considering a spin off of its European joint venture in a public offering later this year, according to a company spokesman.

Lycos spokesman Brian Payea, confirming an earlier report from a securities analyst, said late Wednesday the possible spin off was "under consideration." Payea provided no further details.

Abhishek Gami, an analyst with William Blair & Co. said Lycos' chief financial officer told an investor conference on Tuesday that his company planned a public offering for its European operations, which it owns jointly with Bertelsmann AG, the German media conglomerate.

Ted Philip, Lycos chief financial officer, said at the Chicago-based brokerage's conference that Lycos Europe, as the joint venture is known, will be taken public on a German stock exchange early this fall, according to Gami.

Lycos Europe is in a battle with Yahoo! Inc. for the No. 1 or No. 2 ranking among European Internet media networks, although there are no widely accepted independent market share statistics for the region.

By virtue of the European operation's status as a joint venture, Lycos Inc. does not consolidate any of Lycos Europe's results on its income statement, or balance sheet.

However, in his comments Tuesday, Philip said that if Lycos Europe were consolidated into the parent company's results, it could boost them by 25 percent, Gami said. The analyst estimated that based on its 50-percent share of the venture, the Lycos stake would amount to 12.5 percent of the Waltham, Mass., company's total revenues, and that the offering would be roughly worth an additional $500 million to Lycos shareholders.