UGL, a giant of the Australian trades and construction sector, is expected to announce the sale of its property arm this week.

Financial media outlets say UGL will divest itself of DTZ to reduce its debt. Selling the firm will be cheaper and quicker than a market float – which had been considered the main alternative.

DTZ runs a large range of real estate and construction operations, reportedly bringing in a big proportion of UGL’s profits through facilities management.

Warburg Pincus, TPG Capital and other private equity firms have allegedly shown interest in buying DTZ, which would help UGL pay down its debt of around $580 million.

Meanwhile, in a US courtroom, former UGL Property services chief executive Robert Shibuya says he was sacked from the company for his complaints over; “cooking of the books by misstating financial results and manipulating employee bonuses so as to deceive investors.”

In its latest statement of figures, UGL says it lifted net profit by 13.5 per cent to $29.5 million in the December half of 2013, while revenue rose 5.6 per cent to $1.99 billion and restructuring charges of $17.7 million were booked.