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Time Warner To Shed Remainder Of Its Cable Unit Amid Investor Pressure(InvesTrend Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 1, 2008 (FinancialWire) Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) said that it plans to spin off the rest of its cable TV business, Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), amid investor pleas to further simplify the company s sprawling corporate structure. Time Warner, which is the second largest cable TV operator in the country after Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), has contemplated what to do with AOL for some time, and sold a five percent stake in the division to Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) in late 2005 for $1 billion, spurning an approach from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). Time Warner's decision to be acquired by AOL back in 2000 led to a host of problems, including massive write-downs after accounting improprieties emerged at AOL. The news came as Time Warner, which also owns Warner Bros., CNN, AOL and Time magazine, posted a 36 percent decline in first-quarter earnings from a year ago, when it had a gain from the sale of AOL's Internet access business in Germany. Time Warner did not disclose details on how or when the split with its largest operating division would occur, but said it was close to an agreement with the board of Time Warner Cable. Time Warner earned $771 million in the first three months of the year, down from $1.2 billion a year ago. Revenues rose two percent to $11.42 billion. Shares of Time Warner fell 42 cents to close at $14.85. FinancialWire is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service of Investrend Information (a division of Investrend Communications, Inc.). FinancialWire news is written by professional journalists, dedicated to pure journalistic standards. FinancialWire does not receive or accept any compensation from any individual or subject company (or representative thereof) for its news or opinions. All FinancialWire news is available at http://www.financialwire.net . Please address any inquiries to [email protected] . Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are available at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279 . (Distributed for Investrend Communications, Inc. via M2 Communications Ltd (www.m2.com)) Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd. |