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May 20, 2009 Forum Report:

Reported Investor Support of Recapitalization Proposals

 

 

Forum Report: TDS

 

Reported Investor Support of Recapitalization Proposals

 

An SEC Form 13D report was filed this afternoon by the manager of the Weitz Funds, which owns 5.1% of the common stock of Telephone and Data Systems (“TDS”), to convert from a passive “13G” to active “13D” regulatory status with their decision to advocate proposals of Southeastern Asset Management.  Their exhibited letter to TDS management is copied below, and the fund’s full SEC report can be downloaded from this link:

 

§      May 20, 2009, Wallace R. Weitz & Company, SEC Form 13D report

 

You are reminded that there will be a live webcast of the TDS annual meeting starting at 11:00AM ET tomorrow morning.  It can be accessed from this link:

 

click here for live webcast

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

GL – May 20, 2009

 

Gary Lutin

Lutin & Company

575 Madison Avenue, 10th Floor

New York, New York 10022

Tel: 212-605-0335

Email: gl@shareholderforum.com

 

 

 

Schedule II

 

 

Letter sent by Weitz & Co. on May 19, 2009 to the management of Telephone and

Data Systems, Inc.

 

 

                                                                    May 19, 2009

 

 

 

LeRoy T. Carlson, Jr., Director, President and CEO

Walter C.D. Carlson, Director and Chairman of the Board

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.

30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 4000

Chicago, IL 60602

 

Ted and Walter:

 

Weitz & Company clients have been TDS shareholders for more than 15 years. We

currently own roughly 2.7 million Special Common Shares. As holders of the

Special Common, we do not have the right to vote directly on proxy statement

Proposal 4 submitted by Southeastern Asset Management. Nonetheless, we would

like to voice our support for this Proposal. Further, we agree that a Dutch

tender for 20 million shares would be both a prudent and wise investment of

shareholders' capital with the stock at these levels.

 

Thank you for your consideration of this suggestion.

 

 

 

 

/s/ Wallace R. Weitz                    /s/ Bradley P. Hinton

 

Wallace R. Weitz                        Bradley P. Hinton

President                                     Vice President, Director of Research

 

 

Cc: Mark Steinkrauss

 

 

 

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.