Crown Castle Rejects Co-Founder Bid To Join Board Amid Talks Of A $15B Asset Sale

Crown Castle Inc. CCI co-founder Ted Miller wants the telecommunications infrastructure company to fetch up to $15 billion by selling its fiber assets.
To expedite the sale process, Miller is proposing to join the Crown Castle board of directors. However, Crown Castle’s board turned him — as well as his list of nominees — down after the interview process.

Miller’s nominees “do not possess the relevant expertise and experience to successfully oversee Crown Castle’s strategy," they said in a Feb. 20 statement.

Miller, who co-founded Crown Castle in 1994 with Edward C. Hutcheson, Jr., requested that the company appoint him as executive chairman. His board nominees included Chuck Green, a former CFO of Crown Castle; David Wheeler, a former investment banker at Credit Suisse; and Tripp Rice, his son-in-law.

In December, Crown Castle announced its intention to explore the sale of its fiber business following an agreement with activist investor firm Elliott Investment Management to restructure its board.
Miller recently spoke to Reuters about his intention to accelerate the sale process, find potential buyers and identify $1 billion possible tax benefits and cost-saving measures to simplify the transaction.

The Houston-based company could finalize a deal by the end of 2024, he argues.

Miller says Crown Castle currently has 25 non-disclosure agreements with potential buyers.

During a presentation to Crown Castle’s board, Miller stated that he wanted the firm to assume the cost of this work, which he claims is approximately $5 million.

Proceeds from the sale could be used to reduce the company’s debt and buy back $1.9 billion in stock.

Miller's Crown Castle stake is reportedly worth over $100 million.

Miller believes that he can narrow the gap in Crown Castle’s share valuation compared to peers like SBA Communications Corporation SBAC and American Tower Corporation AMT. He also raised concerns about the company’s rising headcount while maintaining a constant number of towers at roughly 40,000.

Crown Castle is actively seeking a new CEO after Jay Brown’s resignation last month following about seven years in leadership.

Anthony Melone, a former CTO at Verizon Communications Inc. VZ and one of Crown Castle’s board members, is currently serving as interim CEO.

Miller also disapproves of the company's latest cooperation agreement with the activist fund Elliott Investment Management, calling it “coercive and disenfranchising.”

He also asserts that Elliott had considerably reduced its investment in Crown Castle from around $2 billion to just $141 million in December, referring to Elliott’s latest regulatory filing.

Elliott says Miller’s claim that the firm sold more than 90% of its Crown Castle holding was inaccurate.
“Elliott remains one of the largest investors in the company and is the largest investor after the three index fund shareholders,” the spokesperson said.

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