Time Warner Up On Takeover Talk; Interest by Icahn
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Shares of Time Warner gained as much as 4% yesterday following a report that financier Carl Icahn is attempting to organize an investor group, potentially to advocate for the break up of the publishing and broadcasting conglomerate.
Mr. Icahn, a corporate raider turned shareholder activist, has contacted hedge funds, institutions, and former Time Warner executive Ted Turner to gauge their interest in joining such a group, according to a report on CNBC.
Speculation swirled in the stock and options markets on Friday that Mr.Icahn was boosting his five-million-share stake in Time Warner. Mr. Icahn, who has staged a series of proxy fights after building up stakes in companies, didn’t return calls seeking comment.
If Mr. Icahn were to mount a challenge, he would likely argue that Time Warner should sell or spin off its publishing, America Online, and cable units, which would return as much as $25 a share in value, Mr. Faber said.
Mr. Icahn would not be the only investor to have urged Time Warner to spin off the troubled AOL unit, which has been losing customers by the thousands as they defect to cheaper or faster Internet service providers.
