In a statement, the Interpublic Group of Companies said it had retained the investment bank Goldman Sachs with a brief to "explore strategic alternatives regarding its NFO WorldGroup unit".
In the same statement, Interpublic said that it had reached an agreement with its lenders to extend the due date for amending credit agreements to February 10.
Interpublic is coming off the end of a disastrous 2002, where it was informally investigated by the US financial watchdog the SEC after it revealed that it had $181.3m in improperly booked revenue.
The company's credit rating has been reduced to one notch above "junk" status by the ratings agency Standard & Poor's, and when it published its third-quarter results last month, even its chief financial officer Sean Orr was forced to admit that the 7.4% decline in revenues was "unacceptable".
NFO WorldGroup was bought by Interpublic during an acquisition spree in the late 1990s. Since the end of the advertising boom, many of those acquisitions are valued well below what Interpublic paid for them, and NFO WorldGroup is not likely to be an exception.
Last year's scandals saw vice-chairman David Bell give up key responsibilities at Interpublic, and Sal LaGreca, chief financial officer of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, the agency at the centre of the $181.3m accounting problem, resign.
Interpublic's chief executive, John Dooner, has said he hopes the company can put "what I call the 'stupids' behind us".
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