Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management, speaking at Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Crown Castle introduced Thursday that CEO Jay Brown is retiring, the identical working day activist fund Elliott Management sent a letter contacting for a new chief govt as element of a marketing campaign for “improved governance and fiber-approach improvements” at the cell tower firm.
Brown will be replaced by Anthony Melone, a Crown Castle board member, on an interim basis, the company explained in a launch. The board is conducting a research for a long lasting successor.
Elliott introduced its marketing campaign in late November, pushing for “extensive leadership alter” to deal with “very long-time period underperformance.” Shares of Crown Castle, a serious estate financial commitment rely on, are down 13% this calendar year, when the iShares World wide REIT ETF is up nearly 1%.
Elliott beforehand qualified Crown Castle in 2020, but mentioned in a release detailing the hottest marketing campaign that the firm “disregarded” the firm’s enter and pursued a “worth-damaging system.”
In addition to a shakeup in the C-suite, Elliott is also trying to get to put into action bylaw adjustments and a assessment of Crown Castle’s fiber small business, up to and which include a sale.
Crown Castle describes itself as a person of the most significant communications infrastructure suppliers in the state. The business controls much more than 40,000 cell towers and rooftop installations. Its stock is down additional than 40% from its 2021 substantial.
Elliott controls a $2 billion stake in Crown Castle. The activist fund launched by Paul Singer has pursued prior campaigns at firms including Twitter and Salesforce. This calendar year, Elliott created a $1 billion stake in Phillips 66, and is looking for up to two board seats at the crude refining enterprise.
A spokesperson for Elliott did not instantly return CNBC’s request for comment.
Check out: Elliott normally takes $1 billion stake in Phillips 66
