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Southeastern Asset Management, Inc., May 13, 2009 press release

 

PR Newswire
 
Press Release

Source: Southeastern Asset Management, Inc.

Southeastern Asset Management to Present at Forum for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. Shareholders

On Wednesday May 13, 2009, 9:00 am EDT

Forum to focus on investment valuation of strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value

MEMPHIS, Tenn. and NEW YORK, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. ("Southeastern"), investment advisor to Longleaf Partners Fund ("Longleaf"), will present its views this week with regard to its investment in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. ("TDS" or the "Company") (NYSE: TDS) at an open shareholder forum.

The Forum's program was initiated with the support of Southeastern and conducted through the Shareholder Forum, an investor advocacy organization chaired by Gary Lutin. The event will take place on Thursday, May 14, 2009, at the New York Society of Security Analysts ("NYSSA") in New York City from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. The Forum will focus on investment valuations of strategic alternatives for TDS. In addition, on the following day, Friday, May 15, 2009, via teleconference, Southeastern will join proxy advisor Glass Lewis to discuss governance implications. The Friday teleconference will be available to Forum attendees and Glass Lewis clients through Glass Lewis' "Proxy Talk" conference call.

Shareholders, including Southeastern, will have the opportunity to express their views with regard to the stewardship and strategic direction of TDS.

"We feel strongly that TDS is at a critical juncture and that poor decision-making from its management and Board can severely impair TDS' future and further compromise value for shareholders," said O. Mason Hawkins, CEO, Southeastern. "At the Forum, it is our intention to express and discuss our views directly with other TDS shareholders and explore solutions to address the company's main strategic problems. In our view, the current stewardship of TDS is negatively affecting shareholder value, but we believe that simple fixes are available for the challenges the Company must address."

The Forum is free of charge and open to all shareholders of TDS and its subsidiary, United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE: USM), and to any fiduciaries or professionals concerned with their investment decisions.

For more information, please see www.shareholderforum.com/tds/.

ABOUT SOUTHEASTERN ASSET MANAGEMENT

Southeastern Asset Management, Inc., headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., is an investment management firm acting as the investment advisor to the three Longleaf Partners Funds: Longleaf Partners Fund, Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund, and Longleaf Partners International Fund. Southeastern was established in 1975, and the first of the Longleaf Partners Funds was launched in 1987. Southeastern has sole or shared voting authority over 2,838,648 common and 14,776,895 special common shares of TDS.

 

    CONTACT:
    Christina Stenson
    Brunswick Group LLC
    212-333-3810
 

 

 

 

This Forum program is open to all shareholders of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE: TDS), and its controlled subsidiary, United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE: USM), and to any fiduciaries or professionals concerned with their investment decisions. Participation is free of charge, according to the Forum's standard Conditions of Participation.

The purpose of the Forum is to provide shareholders with access to information and a free exchange of views relating to their consideration of issues described in the Forum Summary. As stated in the Conditions, all Forum participants are expected to make independent use of information obtained through the Forum, subject to the privacy rights of other participants. Forum polices are intended to support anonymous communication, and provide that participants will not be identified or quoted without their explicit permission.

The initiation of this program was supported by Southeastern Asset Management, Inc., which as manager of the Longleaf Partners Funds and other client funds is the largest TDS shareholder with common and special common stock aggregating more than 15% of the total of all classes outstanding. TDS has been invited to assume corporate responsibility for the costs of addressing issues of apparent significance to a broad range of its investors, according to the Forum's Conditions, and other participants may be invited to contribute support to the continuing program pending the company's acceptance of responsibility.

Inquiries and requests to be included in the Forum's distribution list may be addressed to tds@shareholderforum.com.

The information provided to Forum participants is intended for their private reference, and permission has not been granted for the republishing of any copyrighted material. The material presented on this web site is the responsibility of Gary Lutin, as chairman of the Shareholder Forum.