NEW YORK CITY—Corvex Management LP, whichearlier this year succeeded in removing the entire board of whatwas then known as CommonWealth REIT, has turnedits attention from office properties to cellphone towers. In aletter to shareholders in Crown Castle InternationalCorp., the Houston-based wireless infrastructureowner/operator, Corvex's Keith Meister said CCIshould put off its possible $6-billion acquisition ofVerizon's tower network until it changes itscapital allocation plan to improve shareholder value.

"We are optimistic that many of you share our view that CrownCastle is a great business with exceptional growth opportunities inthe years ahead,” Meister, managing partner at Corvex, wrote in aletter made public Tuesday. “However, we also believe many of youshare our frustration over the company's stock priceunderperformance relative to peers and the market over the past 18months, and the company's persistent market discount relative toits peers and its own intrinsic value.” Corvex-managed funds ownapproximately 12.6 million shares, worth about $1 billion, of thestock in CCI, which converted to REIT status earlier this year.

Meister's letter says the capital allocation plan that Corvexproposes could result in CCI stock trading at more than $100 pershare. “Based on our analysis, we see a near-term opportunityfor Crown Castle to drive a 27% re-rating in its equity, and thepotential for over 60% upside in 15 months,” according to theletter. The letter proposes that CCI should increase eitherits dividend payout ratio or leverage ratio