Step up to the measuring stick, CDC (NASDAQ:CHINA). You're not as tall as you think you are.

The Hong Kong company announced an IPO this morning, with plans to take its enterprise-software subsidiary public by issuing 4.8 million shares at a price between $11 and $13 a share.

Why?

There's nothing wrong with trying to break off a piece of a company that may perform better on its own. China's Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) successfully took its online-gaming business public as Changyou (NASDAQ:CYOU) earlier this year. Another Chinese company -- online-gaming pioneer Shanda Interactive (NASDAQ:SNDA) -- is exploring a similar breakup, by taking the Cayman Islands subsidiary that operates its online games public.

CDC, on the other hand, commands a smaller market cap than those two companies. It's also not growing as quickly. If it takes its business-software division public as CDC Software, the remains of the day will include the company's IT consulting, its China.com Web portal, and its fledgling online-gaming business.

Sure, CDC's online-gaming business is growing nicely. Its flagship free-to-play Yulgang franchise has more than 78 million registered users. It plans to release Turbine's The Lord of the Rings Online in China later this year. These are encouraging moves, but still, CDC is no Shanda, NetEase.com (NASDAQ:NTES), or Changyou.

There's potential here, of course, but chopping up the company isn't going to get Mr. Market to notice. If CDC hasn't been able to stir up market excitement as the sum of its parts, it's hard to fathom greater success as two even smaller companies.