激進投資機構建倉促改革，AT&T股價大漲

在艾略特管理公司看來，正在從傳統電信公司向多媒體巨頭方向全面轉型的AT&T公司的步子邁得還不夠大，另一方面卻也邁得太大了。

艾略特管理公司是億萬富翁保羅·辛格在紐約創辦的一家對沖基金。最近，艾略特管理公司披露它已買入了32億美元的AT&T股份。AT&T是美國規模最大、投資者范圍最廣的上市公司之一。艾略特管理公司在建倉的同時，也給AT&T羅列了一份計劃，希望它通過出售資產和削減成本，將公司股價推高50%以上。

投資者普遍對艾略特公司此舉表示歡迎，AT&T的股價也創下了10多年來的最大盤中漲幅。

對辛格來說，這也是艾略特管理公司創立近40年以來最大的一筆賭注。同時，艾略特管理公司也對AT&T一向求大求全的發展戰略提出了抨擊。

無線通訊行業的分析師齊坦·沙爾瑪表示：“這將是一場斗爭?！?/p>

本周一，艾略特管理公司在一封致AT&T董事會的信中，給出了一份涵蓋四個部分的計劃。該計劃首先要求AT&T探索剝離一部分資產，包括衛星電視服務提供商DirecTV、墨西哥無線業務以及固網業務等等。

艾略特管理公司還敦促在CEO蘭德爾·斯蒂芬森領導下的AT&T退出不符合其戰略的業務，提高運營效率，并且停止進行大規模收購。艾略特管理公司還表示將推薦合適人選加入AT&T的董事會。

對此，AT&T公司近日回應道，它會認真審視艾略特公司的建議，并表示其中的很多條“是我們現在已經在執行的?！?/p>

AT&T表示，公司的戰略是“由我們在通信網絡、媒體和娛樂行業聚合的一系列有價值的業務驅動的。而且就像艾略特公司指出的那樣，它也是創造重大價值的基礎?！?/p>

AT&T還表示，公司相信，“發展和投資這些業務，對公司和我們的股東來說是一條最好的道路?！?/p>

不過投資者似乎認為，艾略特管理公司的計劃能讓他們從AT&T身上榨取到更多價值。本周一，AT&T的股價單日飆升5.2%，漲至38.14美元，創下自2009年3月以來最大的盤中漲幅，同時其股價也處于去年2月以來的最高水平。

投資AT&T也是艾略特公司成立至今最大的幾筆投資之一。艾略特公司表示，該公司之所以選擇投資AT&T，就是因為AT&T在一段時期的“表現一直嚴重不佳”之后，其價值被嚴重低估了。標志就是過去10年間，AT&T的股票始終跑不贏標普500指數。

艾略特公司還指出了AT&T的一系列戰略失誤，包括幾筆總金額達2000億美元的收購。其中“最具破壞性”的一次，是AT&T試圖以390億美元收購美國T-Mobile公司。后來這筆交易被美國政府叫停了，AT&T也被迫支付了有史以來最高額的分手費——約60億美元的現金和資產。

艾略特公司指出：“AT&T的失敗的收購，除了給自己造成了內部和外部的壓力，還資助了一個未來幾年可能威脅到自己的競爭對手?！?/p>

艾略特公司隨后還抨擊了AT&T對DirecTV和媒體巨頭時代華納的收購。這番抨擊也給今年59歲的斯蒂芬森帶來了不小的壓力。這些交易正是在他的操刀下完成的。

不過，盡管艾略特公司吃下了AT&T的不少股票，但光靠它一家，是很難推動AT&T的改革的，除非其他AT&T的投資者也支持它的立場。以目前披露的情況來看，艾略特公司持有的AT&T股份占AT&T總市值的比例只有1.2%。

此外，艾略特公司還呼吁AT&T采取積極措施削減成本，以實現到2022年將利潤提高3%的目標。由于視頻業務用戶流失嚴重，加之無線業務的大范圍打折，AT&T當前的利潤已經受到了不小的壓力。艾略特公司指出，威瑞森通訊等主要競爭對手在解決這些困難上做得要比AT&T更好。

艾略特公司還在信中稱，它已經發現了能夠為AT&T節省100億美元以上的機會。不過目前，它的計劃只要求AT&T節省50億美元的成本。

艾略特公司還呼吁AT&T進行一系列企業治理方面的改革，比如將CEO和董事長的職權分離（目前這兩個職務都由斯蒂芬森擔任），以及成立一個戰略研究委員會，以確定公司發展機遇等。

轉型收購

通過前幾年的一系列交易，AT&T已經從一家傳統的電信公司轉型成了一個多媒體巨頭。2015年，AT&T以670億美元收購了衛星電視服務提供商DirecTV，一躍成為美國付費電視公司中的龍頭老大。艾略特公司在信中批評這筆交易是“在最高點進入有線電視市場”，結果剛一進場，行業就走了下坡路。

然后，AT&T開始堅定不移地進軍娛樂和媒體行業。2018年，AT&T以850億美元收購了時代華納。這筆交易也帶來了HBO、CNN和華納兄弟等重量級資產。

艾略特公司的合伙人杰西·柯恩和投資經理馬克·斯坦伯格在信中指出：“盡管從簽約到交易完成一共花了將近600天的時間（而且現在又是一年多過去了），然而AT&T仍未就收購時代華納給出一個明確的戰略理由。雖然現在判斷AT&T與時代華納的合并究竟能否創造價值還為時過早，但我們仍然對這次并購的好處持謹慎態度?！?/p>

引戰專家

艾略特公司的“毒舌”在業界是出了名的。光是去年，eBay、保樂力加、拜耳等全球知名的大企業就都挨過它的批判。AT&T也是艾略特公司有史以來做出的最大的一筆激進的單一股權投資。

這也不是艾略特公司第一次對一家大型電信公司開炮了。這家對沖基金曾經與威望迪爭奪過意大利電信公司董事會的控制權，并且最終在2018年獲勝，不過這場戰爭一直拖到今年才告結束。

這些斗爭也并非總是以艾略特公司的成功而告終。今年早些時候，在與現代汽車集團的代理人爭奪戰中，投資者們最終選擇了不在現代集團的兩家子公司中選舉董事。但即便艾略特公司在一些重大斗爭中落了下風——比如面對韓國三星電子，但它的頻繁出擊，依然在代理人之爭的范疇以外激起了不少漣漪。

2015年，三星成功擋住了艾略特公司的一次進攻，但此事的發酵，卻在之后引起了一連串蝴蝶效應。先是幾十萬人在首爾游行示威，再是三星集團的繼承人李在镕因挪用公款和行賄被判刑，最后連韓國總統樸槿惠都鋃鐺下獄。

身負重債

除了金融機構和由政府支持的實體，AT&T是世界上負債最多的公司。截至今年6月，該公司的總負債達到1940億美元，這也是斯蒂芬森連續大手筆收購的結果。據知情人士2016年向彭博社透露，這位CEO的平板電腦上有一張表格，里面是好幾十家公司的名單，他經常對著這張表格，研究他的下一筆大交易。

根據彭博社的數據，AT&T的股票也是被最多機構投資者持有的20支美國上市公司股票之一。這在一定程度上是由于它的分紅比較穩定，去年它的分紅達到每股2.04美元，使投資者無論在好年景還是壞年景，都能獲得比較可靠的分紅收入。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

AT&T Inc.’s sweeping transformation from Ma Bell to a multimedia titan has gone both too far and not far enough for Elliott Management Corp.

Billionaire Paul Singer’s New York hedge fund disclosed a new $3.2 billion position in AT&T, taking on one of the nation’s biggest and most widely held companies with a plan to boost its share price by more than 50% through asset sales and cost cutting.

Investors applauded the development, sending AT&T shares on their biggest intraday rally in more than a decade.

For Singer, the move represents one of the biggest bets in the four decades since the hard-driving activist investor founded his firm. And it strikes at the core of the way AT&T has built its bigger-is-better empire.

“There will be a fight,” said Chetan Sharma, a wireless-industry analyst.

Elliott outlined a four-part plan for the company in a letter to its board Monday. The proposal calls for the company to explore divesting assets, including satellite-TV provider DirecTV, the Mexican wireless operations, pieces of the landline business, and others.

It urges AT&T, led by Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson, to exit businesses that don’t fit its strategy, run a more efficient operation and stop making major acquisitions. Elliott said it would also recommend candidates to add to AT&T’s board.

In response, AT&T said it would review Elliott’s recommendations and said many of them are “ones we are already executing today.”

The telecom giant said its strategy is “driven by the unique portfolio of valuable businesses we’ve assembled across communications networks and media and entertainment, and as Elliott points out, is the foundation for significant value creation.”

The carrier said it believes that “growing and investing in these businesses is the best path forward for our company and our shareholders.”

Still, investors seem to think Elliott’s plan could wring more value from AT&T. The shares surged as much as 5.2% to $38.14 in New York trading Monday. That was the biggest intraday jump since March 2009 and put them at their highest level since February of last year.

Elliott said the investment -- among its largest to date -- was made because the company is deeply undervalued after a period of “prolonged and substantial underperformance.” It argued this has been marked by its shares lagging the broader S&P 500 over the past decade.

It pointed to a series of strategic setbacks, including $200 billion in acquisitions, the “most damaging” of which was its $39 billion attempted purchase of T-Mobile US Inc. That deal resulted in the largest breakup fee of all time when the government blocked it in 2011 -- about $6 billion in cash and assets.

“In addition to the internal and external distractions it caused itself, AT&T’s failed takeover capitalized a viable competitor for years to come,” Elliott said.

The hedge fund also slammed the subsequent acquisitions of DirecTV and media giant Time Warner Inc. That puts particular pressure on Stephenson, 59, who oversaw the deals Elliott criticized in the letter.

But, while the position in AT&T is large, Elliott may have a difficult time pushing for change unless it gets other investors to back its stance. Its newly disclosed stake in AT&T represents just about 1.2% of the company’s total market value.

Elliott’s plan also calls for aggressive cost-cutting measures that aim to improve AT&T’s margins by 3 percentage points by 2022. Those margins have come under pressure amid cord cutting in video and widespread discounting in wireless, and Elliott said competitors like Verizon Communications Inc. have done a better job addressing those headwinds.

Elliott said in the letter it has identified opportunities for savings in excess of $10 billion, but the plan would only require cost cuts of $5 billion.

Elliott is also calling for a series of governance changes, including separating the roles of CEO and chairman -- currently held by Stephenson -- and the formation of a strategic review committee to identify the opportunities at hand.

Transformative Deals

With a series of deals over the past several years, AT&T has transformed itself from a traditional telecom company into a multimedia behemoth. The company bought satellite-TV provider DirecTV for $67 billion in 2015, leaping into first place among U.S. pay-TV companies. Elliott criticized that deal in its letter as having come “at the absolute peak of the linear TV market.”

AT&T then moved firmly into entertainment and media with the $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner in 2018. That deal brought marquee assets such as HBO, CNN and Warner Bros.

“Despite nearly 600 days passing between signing and closing (and more than a year passing since), AT&T has yet to articulate a clear strategic rationale for why AT&T needs to own Time Warner,” Jesse Cohn, a partner at Elliott, and Marc Steinberg, an associate portfolio manager, said in the letter. “While it is too soon to tell whether AT&T can create value with Time Warner, we remain cautious on the benefits of this combination.”

High-Profile Fights

Elliott has a history of tackling some of the biggest and most high-profile companies around the globe, including EBay Inc., Pernod Ricard SA, and Bayer AG in the past year alone. The AT&T investment marks Elliott’s single largest equity investment with an activist slant.

It’s not the first time Elliott has taken on a major telecommunications company, either. The hedge fund battled Vivendi SA for control of the board of Telecom Italia SpA, eventually winning control in 2018 in a fight that dragged on into this year.

Those battles don’t always end in success. In Elliott’s proxy fight at Hyundai Motor Group earlier this year, investors opted not to elect its slate of directors at two of the South Korean manufacturer’s subsidiaries. But even in some of its major losses, like at Samsung Electronics Co., the repercussion of its agitations can send ripples beyond the proxy clash.

Samsung managed to keep Elliott at bay in 2015 but touched off a series of events that resulted in a brief jail term for the electronics giant’s billionaire heir apparent for influence peddling, protests by hundreds of thousands of people in Seoul, and the downfall and imprisonment of South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye.

Heavy Debt

AT&T is the most indebted company in the world -- not counting financial firms and government-backed entities -- with $194 billion in total debt as of June, a legacy of Stephenson’s steady clip of large acquisitions. The CEO used to keep a spreadsheet of a few dozen companies that he studies on his tablet to plan his next big deal, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in 2016.

The stock is among the top 20 most widely held U.S.-traded companies among institutional investors, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s partially because of its steady dividend, which totaled $2.04 a share last year, giving investors a reliable payout in good times and bad.