Boots Capital and Crown Castle Management Seek Control of Tower Company's Board

Ted Miller, co-founder and former CEO of Crown Castle, sent an open letter to Crown Castle shareholders Friday urging them to elect a revised slate of board members. CEO Jay Brown stepped down in January after Elliott Investment Management called for "significant changes" in Crown Castle's executive and board leadership (see 2311280062). Last month, Crown Castle named Steven Moskowitz, a former American Tower executive, president and CEO (see 2404120051). Now at Boots Capital Management, Miller said hiring Moskowitz wasn’t enough. “The last few weeks have exposed us to the candid feedback and insights of Crown Castle's largest shareholders,” he said: “We heard repeatedly an overwhelming concern and frustration with the Company's performance, slipshod governance, and lack of strategic planning.” Agreeing to sell fiber and naming Moskowitz were “worthy moves,” but shareholders “are telling us they want Boots to help drive the necessary changes by replacing decades-old directors responsible for this quagmire and once again focusing Crown Castle on the operations of its core tower business,” Miller said. Shareholders vote Wednesday. The company urged shareholders to vote for management's nominees. Miller “is attempting to replace four of the Company’s highly qualified nominees with his own nominees, whose skill sets and perspectives are not additive and do not reflect current industry dynamics and the competitive ecosystem,” Crown Castle said in a statement. Boots Capital's nominees are Miller, tower veteran Chuck Green, Tripp Rice and David Wheeler, all of whom have ties to Miller. They would replace broad members Ari Fitzgerald, Cindy Christy, Rob Bartolo and Kevin Kabat.