Media: Stephen Spruiell Elliott Management Corporation (212) 478-2017 sspruiell@elliottmgmt.com A sign that the two sides quickly found common ground, Stephenson told Reuters on Monday that a standstill agreement that could have prevented Elliott from taking further action had not materialized. AT&T Inc. struck a deal with an activist investor who had pressured the telecom giant to revise its strategy and said its chief executive would remain at the helm until next year. To reduce its debt by $153.5 billion at the end of the third quarter, AT&T was on a sales frenzy. Over the weekend, it sold Central European Media Enterprises Ltd (CME) to investment group PPF in a cash transaction worth approximately $2.1 billion. Some higher positions at AT&T aren`t very happy with the response of billionaire Paul Singer`s hedge fund to their $43 billion media merger on Monday. AT&T Inc. on Monday unveiled a three-year strategic plan that included selling up to $10 billion worth of businesses next year, paying off all debt from the Time Warner purchase and adding two new board members who bowed to pressure from activist investor Elliott Management. AT&T`s high debt burden and declining revenue from segments such as satellite TV provider DirecTV caught the attention of Elliott, one of the industry`s most powerful activist investors, who bought a $3.2 billion stake earlier this year. Cover by Sheila Dang in New York, Ayanti Bera and Neha Malara in Bengaluru and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston, additional cover by Kenneth Li; edited by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Kirsten Donovan, Nick Zieminski and Dan Grebler Elliott contributed $3.2 billion to AT&T in September 2019, calling for “better strategic direction” and “better leadership” in a letter. But hedge fund executives were not in the room when the negotiations took place, sources familiar with the situation said. As a first step, AT&T plans to soon appoint a new board member with expertise in technology and cost reduction, Stephenson said during a call to analysts in which he also had warm words for the hedge fund.

The company expects to generate $14 billion by the end of the year through asset sales and other initiatives. It has reduced its net debt by $12.7 billion since the beginning of the year. “It`s confusing that a statement in which Jesse (Cohn) pays tribute to John (Stankey) is considered a winning round.” The New York-based hedge fund, which invests $38 billion, last month criticized Dallas-based AT&T, with a market capitalization of $283 billion, for its acquisitions, inflated costs and governance structure. He called on the company to stop buying more businesses, review its portfolio and costs, and add new board members to lay the groundwork for an attack on one of the company`s biggest goals of all time. The result of that bet, AT&T`s HBO Max subscription video streaming service, will be unveiled Tuesday in Burbank, California. AT&T announces a portfolio review, operational improvements, better capital allocation, board changes and leadership best practices. NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Elliott Management Corporation (“Elliott”), which manages funds that collectively hold $3.4 billion worth of common stock and economic equivalents of AT&T Inc. (the “Company” or “AT&T”) has issued a statement supporting the multi-faceted approach to shareholder value creation that the Company unveiled today. The measures announced include: In the statement, Jesse Cohn, Elliott Partner, and Marc Steinberg, Associate Portfolio Manager, congratulated Randall Stephenson, President and Chief Executive Officer of AT&T, Matt Rose, Lead Director, as well as the entire Board of Directors and management team for the Company`s commitment to these initiatives: Elliott Management Corporation manages two multi-strategy funds that, together, manage approximately $38 billion in assets. Its flagship fund, Elliott Associates, L.P., was founded in 1977, making it one of the oldest funds of its kind under continuous management. Investors in Elliott funds include pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowment funds, endowment funds, funds of funds, high net worth individuals and families, and company employees. You will be charged more than $1 in taxes (if any) for the Wall Street Journal.

You can change your billing settings at any time in the Customer Area or call customer service. You will be notified in advance of any changes to the rate or conditions. You can cancel your subscription at any time by calling customer service. A second board member will be appointed next year and will have media references, the person familiar with the matter said, adding that both sides are still considering possible candidates. “We thank Randall, Matt and the rest of the team for their constructive collaboration and leadership and look forward to continued close engagement as the company executes these strategic, operational and portfolio initiatives.” On Monday, about seven weeks after Elliott made its proposals, AT&T pledged to buy back shares, add two new directors and review its portfolio. The second largest mobile operators in the U.S. region per subscriber are struggling with stagnant share prices, despite spending billions to bet that they own multimedia content, as well as all the ways people can access it through their phones, TVs and the Internet, would be cost-effective. The operator added 101,000 net new payphone subscribers to a monthly bill in the third quarter. Wall Street estimated it would gain 61,000 net new customers, according to a note from Cowen analysts. President and CEO Randall Stephenson used the major acquisitions of Time Warner and DirecTV to make AT&T a major media provider, a change that activist Elliott Management Corp.

had questioned. Stephenson said Monday that AT&T will forego major acquisitions in the coming years to focus on improving earnings. “We have carefully evaluated the company`s three-year plan and are supporting steps towards a faster-growing, more profitable, more focused and shareholder-friendly company. The combination of improved AT&T business performance, consistent and faster revenue growth, significant margin expansion, and better return on investment will result in significant earnings and cash flow growth over the next three years. In addition, AT&T will continue to refresh its board as it executes its plan to achieve earnings per share of $4.50 to $4.80 by 2022, a figure that is easily achievable and excludes the benefit of portfolio measures. Overall, we are confident that this will lead to significant upside potential at AT&T. Monday`s announcement posed an “uncomfortable conundrum” as AT&T released financial forecasts through 2022 that exceeded Wall Street consensus, although quarterly results were below expectations in each segment, Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at New Street Research, said in a note. AT&T lost 1.2 million premium TV customers, including DirecTV, as well as 195,000 streaming video customers as it tried to attract subscribers who had signed up for price promotions. Elliott got almost everything he asked for, but made no promises forbidding him to put more pressure on the company, an unusual result in activist battles. .