ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110045
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Bringing many of the biggest properties - and egos - in media together under one roof Thursday, Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System completed their $7.57 billion merger.
Time Warner Inc., regaining the title of the world's largest media and entertainment company, now adds such familiar names as Fred Flintstone, CNN and the Atlanta Braves - not to mention Ted Turner - to an already formidable stable that includes Bugs Bunny, HBO, Time magazine and many others.
In separate meetings in New York, shareholders of the two companies voted overwhelmingly to approve the merger.
``This is the company that I've always dreamed of and we are now here, complete, one team and one family,'' Time Warner Chairman Gerald Levin said.
``This is a dream,'' said Turner, the founder and chairman of Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting, who now becomes vice chairman and the largest single shareholder of the merged company.
``Considering the difficulties we had with this merger it was quite a job to get it completed,'' Turner said after announcing the vote. Later, as his long-time secretary Dee Woods read a final motion to adjourn Turner Broadcasting's final shareholder meeting, a tearful Turner dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief.
The merger sent Time Warner stock up 25 cents a share to close at $41.371/2 on the New York Stock Exchange. The deal was concluded after the close of trading.
It should take about a year to actually combine the numerous, and in some cases overlapping, divisions of the two companies, analysts said.
``One of the first things is going to be fairly significant layoffs from Turner,'' said Larry Gerbrandt, a senior analyst at Paul Kagan Associates Inc., a media research firm.
``They've got to figure out the areas where they have duplicated overhead, and figure out who gets the responsibilities of the ones who will be leaving,'' Gerbrandt said. ``A lot of it is going to be basic blocking and tackling. It's just a painful transition.''
Time Warner officials have not said how many people would be fired, though estimates have run as high as 1,200.
Despite the contrasts in corporate culture and personality reflected in the reserved but ambitious Levin and the loose-lipped, risk-loving Turner, Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting already share a high degree of understanding of each other's business that should help smooth the union.
``These are companies that have operated in the same sector, the same industry, for almost their entire existence,'' Gerbrandt said.
The company has a host of other matters to grapple with, including a restructuring of its cable partnership with US West, the telephone company that owns about one-quarter of the Time Warner Entertainment division and tried unsuccessfully to stop the merger.
Time Warner also must put into effect plans, touted in private to Wall Street analysts, to make further cuts in the company's costs and debt if it hopes to continue the recent ascent of its stock price.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Major players Ted Turner (right foreground) andby CNBRichard Parsons (at Turner's right) join the applause at the
announcement. color. Graphic: Vhart by AP.