Crown Castle gives in to Elliott's demands with fiber unit review, board changes
Reuters
Published Dec 20, 2023 09:58AM ET
Updated Dec 20, 2023 02:06PM ET
(Reuters) - Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) on Wednesday announced a review of its fiber business and replaced two directors on its board as part of a deal with activist investor Elliott, which has sought to shake up the wireless tower operator for years of underperformance.
The company has also formed two committees under the deal – one for the Fiber unit review and another to search for its next CEO. Its former top boss Jay Brown resigned earlier this month, days after Elliott called for an executive change.
"Today's announcements mark a significant step forward toward a stronger and more valuable Crown Castle," Elliott Senior Portfolio Manager Jason Genrich said.
Genrich will get a seat on Crown Castle's board as part of the agreement, along with former T-Mobile executive Sunit Patel. They will replace Benjamin Moreland and Maria Pope.
After the changes, Crown Castle's board will consist of 12 members, of whom 11 are independent.
The fiber business posted a 4% rise in revenue in the last reported quarter, but the figure was down about 25% from the previous three months. The unit accounts for nearly a third of the company's total revenue.
Elliott has said the company should consider a possible sale of the business, improve corporate governance and optimize its incentive plan, among others.
The demands are the second time the activist investor is publicly pressuring Crown Castle after Elliott urged management to rethink its fiber infrastructure strategy and criticized the company's shareholder returns in 2020.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.