Bewkes: Full sale of AOL is unlikely

June 01, 2007 Time Warner Inc. likely would only spin off "a slice of AOL" if it decided to create a stock currency for acquisitions down the line, TW president and COO Jeffrey Bewkes emphasized Thursday amid continuing Wall Street talk about a potential sale or spinoff of the online unit. A complete sale or spinoff of AOL "wouldn't be in our interest or shareholders' interest at this point," Bewkes said, arguing there was upside in the business to take advantage of given that AOL since the launch of a new strategy has been "doing a little better than expected." Asked about the prospect of TW's movies coming to iTunes, Bewkes mentioned two key conditions: "an economic structure that makes it worthwhile and adequate (digital rights management)."

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