Dick Parsons, chairman and chief executive of Time Warner, will meet the company's 13 other board members next Thursday to discuss Carl Icahn's proposal that the world's biggest media group be split into four.

Time Warner's bankers - led by Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs - have combed the 343-page analysis prepared for Mr Icahn by Lazard, the investment bank run by veteran dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein.

When the Time Warner board meets next week, the bankers will have a review of the Lazard analysis.

Mr Icahn, the billionaire activist investor who represents just under 3.5 per cent of Time Warner's shareholders, wants a break-up of Time Warner and a $20 billion (€16.82 billion) share buy-back, arguing this would lift the group's lagging share price.

"The board reviews all these types of options with an open mind and is certainly not opposed to any strategies that would lift the share price," said one person briefed on the discussions. "So far, the review of the Lazard analysis does not suggest there is anything in it that is compelling, that is different to what the board has considered before." Time Warner declined to comment.

The company said last week that it would study the Icahn-Lazard proposal "carefully and thoroughly". Since the Lazard report was released, Time Warner's share price has barely moved, staying at about $18.

Mr Parsons and other Time Warner executives have said there is no evidence that a break-up would lift Time Warner's share price, which has underperformed along with most other big media companies.

Recent moves to boost share performance include a $12.5 billion share buy-back plan and a renewed effort to cut costs.

As well as suggesting a break-up to eliminate a conglomerate discount, Mr Icahn wants Time Warner to increase its debt to buy back $20 billion of shares and is proposing radical cost-cutting.