Crown Castle Began Operating as a REIT on January 1, 2014

Crown Castle International announced yesterday that they began operating as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on January 1, 2014. Crown Castle received an opinion dated December 31, 2013 from each of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, which firms advised Crown Castle on its REIT conversion, that Crown Castle will qualify as a REIT as of January 1, 2014. According to the company, “Crown Castle expects to take certain steps and corporate actions in 2014 in order to facilitate continued operation as a REIT, which may include seeking adoption of certain charter provisions that implement certain standard REIT-related ownership and transfer restrictions. In connection with taking such steps and actions, Crown Castle may seek stockholder approval.” In September 2013, Crown Castle announced they were beginning to take the steps necessary to qualify as a REIT. “We are delighted to announce this plan for conversion because we believe REIT status is the optimal structure for our business given the real estate nature of our assets,” stated Ben Moreland, Crown Castle’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe a REIT structure will lower our weighted average cost of capital and provide additional opportunities for creating long-term shareholder value. Further, we expect our conversion to a REIT to have little to no effect on our operations, and we intend to continue our focus on maximizing long-term adjusted funds from operations per share through growth and disciplined capital allocation.”