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  "documentTitle": "American Tower (AMT)",
  "authorId": "51_Muddy_Waters",
  "authorName": "Carson C. Block",
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  "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller",
  "presentationDate": "2013-08-01 00:00:00",
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  "notes": "The slide uses investigative reporting techniques to challenge corporate disclosures regarding transaction pricing and asset valuation.",
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      "text": "The combination of the Site Sharing financial statements and these six sources creates a very strong case that AMT materially misstated its accounts with respect to this transaction.",
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      "text": "The Site Sharing shareholders received about BRL 800,000 per tower. The total USD consideration was in the $300 million range. He is aware that AMT disclosed paying $585 million / $879,000 per tower, and he does not know why AMT disclosed the much higher price.",
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      "text": "We spoke with a former AMT employee who was involved in the purchase of Site Sharing, and the main takeaway with respect to the Site Sharing transaction was that the transaction price was approximately BRL 900,000 per tower, which he recalled was about $560,000 per tower at the time. These figures imply that the transaction was approximately $370 million, rather than $585 million.",
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      "text": "Recent news from Germany highlights our conclusion that AMT spends investor money overseas regardless of the risk / reward ratio. On July 23, 2013, Telefónica and KPN announced that Telefónica would acquire 100% of E-Plus. (E-Plus is the seller and anchor tenant of AMT’s German portfolio.) We stated that this transaction was a strong possibility, and unfortunately for AMT investors, it decreases the already anemic returns AMT can expect from its $525.7 million purchase of towers from E-Plus only nine months earlier. We understand that E-Plus and Telefónica’s o2 operation in Germany use the same technology, similar frequencies, and that antennae that can handle both carriers are becoming increasingly common in Germany. An industry source estimates that o2 is a tenant on approximately 30% of AMT’s towers in Germany, and likely accounts for 15% to 20% of AMT’s revenue in the country. Because AMT has not announced a master lease agreement with o2, it is possible (if not probable) that o2 will be able to",
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      "text": "AMT disclosed paying $879,000 per tower; however, both the selling shareholder of Site Sharing NE SA and the former AMT employee stated that the purchase price was in the range of BRL 800,000 to BRL 900,000 per tower.",
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      "text": "In addition to these two sources, we spoke with four sources who were familiar with the transaction from having considered bidding on it, and who believe that the transaction pricing was in the BRL 800,000 to BRL 900,000 per tower range. The combination of the Site Sharing financial statements and these six sources creates a very strong case that AMT materially misstated its accounts with respect to this transaction.",
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      "text": "Looking at the price per tower AMT paid and the selling shareholders received. AMT paid between 800,000 and 900,000 per tower. The question is whether this was in US dollars or Brazilian Real. At the March 1, 2011 exchange rate of 1.665, purchasing in Brazilian Real but disclosing US dollars would have resulted in an overstatement of purchase consideration of 66.5%.",
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      "text": "These figures jibe with the then-prevailing FX rate.",
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      "kind": "title",
      "text": "More Bad News for AMT from Overseas",
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