Thanks to rene for pointing out the correct direction...
TIME-WAIT (either server or client) represents waiting for enough time to pass to be sure the remote TCP received the acknowledgment of its connection termination request. [According to RFC 793 a connection can stay in TIME-WAIT for a maximum of four minutes known as a MSL (maximum segment lifetime).]
For anyone else who wants to change this behavior: The TIME_WAIT period is configurable by modifying the following DWORD registry setting that represents the TIME_WAIT period in seconds.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TCPIP\Parameters\TcpTimedWaitDelay