The possible dividend comes as a result of a £150m loan extension granted by creditors on the same "covenant-lite" (ie less onerous) terms as in its original financing deal in 2007.
The deal, which could allow Apax and GMG to draw cash from TMG, has raised interest in the City as it is one of the first its kind since the financial crash.
A source with knowledge of the deal said the dividend was being looked upon as a possible "pre-payment on the final return", when the partners eventually float or sell off TMG.
However, both partners expect to retain ownership of TMG for "quite a while", the source added.
The deal is also expected to see TMG lift its debt from around four times its earnings, to five times its earnings.
TMG's net debt is believed to stand at around £580m, down from £605.7m at the end of last year, and from £739.6m in 2008.
Apax acquired a 49.9% stake in TMG, publisher of Auto Trader, from GMG in 2007 for £675m.
GMG is expected to unveil financial results for the year just gone in the next couple of weeks.
In the 12 months to March last year its pre-tax losses jumped 77 per cent to £171m as the company took an impairment charge against its investment in Emap, totalling £96.5m, and a further impairment of £63.9m on GMG Radio.
The media business wrote £47m off its books following the sale of its regional media division to Trinity Mirror while the operating loss at Guardian News & Media, the division which publishes The Guardian and The Observer, increased to £37.8m.
In that 12-month period turnover fell to £476.2m from £543.4m the previous year, but proceeds from profitable joint ventures Emap and TMG were ring-fenced. They made operating profits of £90.1m and £104.8m respectively, over the same period.
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