Malone eyes swap for AOL dial-up arm

Liberty Media is considering swapping its shareholding in Time Warner for the dial-up business of AOL, John Malone said on Monday, raising the unexpected prospect of a competitive auction for the declining Internet access operation. Malone, whose group encompasses wholly owned businesses such as the QVC home shopping channel and stakes in DirecTV, Expedia and Sprint Nextel, said swapping the Time Warner holding for a cash-generating asset would be "attractive". Liberty Media's 103m-shareholding in Time Warner was valued at $1.64bn last night, slightly above analysts' $1.5bn valuation of AOL's access business.