Getting rid of Time?

C'mon, why not? If Reuters is being sold for $17 billion and Dow Jones is dangling for $5 billion, why wouldn't Time Warner consider jettisoning its not-so-hot magazine division? Bear Stearns analyst Spencer Wang issued a report today saying that the TW honchos are at least thinking about it. He calls the Time unit "the least-attractive strategic fit" with the rest of Time Warner's "video-centric" media offerings. From the NYT's Andrew Sorkin:

Mr. Wang sees two likely options: A leveraged spinoff, which breaks the unit off into a new, publicly traded entity, or a straight-up sale. Though a spinoff would carry less of a tax bite, a sale could be the better option, considering the price that Mr. Wang thinks the unit might fetch in the private market. Time Inc., which, in addition to its flagship magazine, includes titles such as People and Sports Illustrated, is expected to book revenue of $5.1 billion this year, with Ebitda of about $1.1 billion. That strong cash flow, plus the relatively low amount of capital required to run a magazine business, could make it a tempting target for a private equity fund.