Time Warner committed to AOL spinoff; split expected by end of year

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., May 28 - Time Warner Inc. said it will move forward with plans to complete the legal and structural separation of AOL LLC from Time Warner, making AOL an independent, publicly traded company.

Once separated, AOL will focus on growing its web brands and services, a Time Warner news release said.

Time Warner, a New York-based media and entertainment company, said it wants to complete the separation by the end of the year.

"The separation will be another critical step in the reshaping of Time Warner that we started at the beginning of last year, enabling us to focus to an even greater degree on our core content businesses," Time Warner chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Bewkes said in a company news release.

"The separation will also provide both companies with greater operational and strategic flexibility," Bewkes said.

Currently Time Warner owns 95% of AOL, and Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc. owns the remaining 5%.

Time Warner expects to purchase Google's AOL stake in the third quarter.

Once the proposed separation is completed, Time Warner shareholders will own all of the outstanding interests in AOL, Time Warner said.

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