(Reuters) - The publisher of the Daily Mail said on Thursday it would reduce its holding in Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc (>> Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC) to about 49 percent from about 67 percent to improve its investment portfolio and lower its debt.

Daily Mail and General Trust Plc (DMGT) (>> Daily Mail and General Trust plc) said it plans to sell about 32 million shares in Euromoney, publisher of the Euromoney magazine, via a secondary placing and a buyback of shares by Euromoney.

DMGT reported an 11 percent drop in its adjusted operating profit for the year to end-September, partially hurt by a 4 percent fall in Euromoney revenue on an underlying basis.

If the sale is approved by shareholders, Euromoney will cease to be a subsidiary of DMGT.

Lazard & Co is the financial adviser to DMGT, while Numis Securities and UBS are the joint bookrunners for the stake sale.

(Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)