A new list of golden rules for taking over a company has been published by the Boston Consulting Group but the guidelines come too late for media conglomerate Time Warner, which this week revealed it will spin off its AOL Internet business and put an end to the tie-up that was once hailed as the deal of the century before quickly being derided as the worst in history.

The Massachusetts-based consultancy published its survey of 160 investors and equity analysts yesterday, just as Time Warner announced it had authorised the separation of AOL into an independent, publicly traded company.