Fergie's Tech Blog

Icahn, Time Warner Reach Deal

Via Red Herring.

Financier Carl Icahn and Time Warner reached a settlement in their long-running dispute on Friday, with the billionaire renouncing his call to break up the media group in return for a pledge by the company to take measures to boost shareholder value.

Mr. Icahn, who was also looking to propose a slate of directors who favored his breakup proposals, abandoned his quest for the board seats as part of the agreement.

Mr. Icahn and Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons met several times during the week as they hunted for a settlement. Ultimately, Mr. Icahn proved willing to back down from some of his biggest demands including splitting the company into four parts.

Time Warner in turn agreed to boost its share repurchase program to $20 billion from $12.5 billion. The New York-based media giant also pledged to cut $1 billion in costs.

posted by Fergie @ 2/17/2006 06:10:00 PM