Time Warner: Cutting the HBO Cord Could Be Costly

TheStreet: A spinoff of HBO may be tantalizing to some Time Warner shareholders. But Moody’s Investors Service analyst Neil Begley said Time Warner’s balance sheet contains a substantial impediment to a divestiture, namely indentures on billions of dollars in bonds that would require the company to obtain bondholder consent for a spin or risk litigation. “It wouldn’t an easy task or a painless task to spin off HBO.”