Icahn Says Talk With Parsons Was ‘Productive’

Financier Carl Icahn said Thursday that he had a “productive” discussion with Richard Parsons, the chief executive of Time Warner Inc., concerning Icahn’s ideas for lifting the value of Time Warner’s stock.

Icahn, who is known for taking stakes in companies and then agitating for changes, met with Parsons on Wednesday to discuss the investor’s suggestions for Time Warner, including an immediate repurchase of $20 billion of the company’s shares as well as a complete spinoff of its cable television subsidiary.

Time Warner has already announced that it plans a $5-billion share buyback and a partial spinoff of its cable unit, which is the second-largest in the country after Comcast Corp.

Icahn disclosed Monday that he had joined forces with three other investors who collectively own about 2.6% of Time Warner in order to press for changes at the company in hopes of lifting its stock.

Icahn said in a short statement released Thursday that he and Parsons had a “good and productive” discussion.

“At the end of the meeting, we both observed that we had, at the very least, one thing in common: We both believed Time Warner was meaningfully undervalued and that we both wanted very much to rectify this situation,” Icahn said. “We agreed to communicate again shortly.”

Time Warner spokeswoman Mia Carbonell said Parsons told Icahn that Time Warner’s board and managers were “committed to moving as aggressively as is appropriate on the current course to create and deliver long-term value for all of our shareholders.”

In trading Thursday, the shares slipped 10 cents to $18.20.