Time Warner Cable, a division on Time Warner Inc., may trade on New York Stock Exchange under the "TWC" symbol as early as March 1, 2007. The company owns cable systems serving approximately 26 million homes in 33 states, and has 14.6 million customers for its various products, including video and high-speed data.
The decision to make Time Warner Cable a public company is the result of the Adelphia Communications Corporation bankruptcy plan becoming effective today. As part of the deal--which was confirmed in court in January 2007--Adelphia received shares of TWC's Class A common stock as part of the payment for the systems purchased from Adelphia.
Both Time Warner and Adelphia expect about 75 percent of those shares will be distributed to Adelphia shareholders within the next week as part of the Chapter 11 agreement. The remaining shares will be distributed over the next fews months because there are several disptures that need to be resolved in court. Among these disputes is the 4 percent being held in escrow in connection with Time Warner Cable’s acquisition of assets from Adelphia.
According to the release, "Under applicable securities regulations and provisions of the U.S. bankruptcy code, Time Warner Cable is now a public company subject to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Pursuant to applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, the distribution by Adelphia of Time Warner Cable Class A common stock to Adelphia stakeholders is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, and upon receipt these shares are freely tradable without restriction or further registration."
In a statment, Time Warner's Dick Parsons said:“We believe Time Warner Cable is positioned to compete successfully in the fast-growing cable sector and to increase value for the shareholders of Time Warner and Time Warner Cable.”
