We rate American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) a Strong Sell and value it at $44.57 per share, representing downside of 40%. AMT has serious challenges domestically and internationally that have not been factored into the stock price. It has engaged in a value destroying investment binge overseas, and we have identified a significant material misstatement in the Company’s accounts that could amount to fraud.

We rate American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) a Strong Sell and value it at $44.57 per share, representing downside of 40%. AMT has serious challenges domestically and internationally that have not been factored into the stock price. It has engaged in a value destroying investment binge overseas, and we have identified a significant material misstatement in the Company’s accounts that could amount to fraud.

In this update, we present additional information showing that approximately $250 million appears to have gone missing in the transaction. Our conversations with a selling shareholder and a former AMT employee involved in the transaction confirm that AMT paid the selling shareholders approximately $300 million, and not the $585 million AMT claims.

We discussed the possibility of this transaction happening in our initial report, and raised red flags about certain aspects of it. , This transaction appears to be yet another low quality, growth at any price transaction AMT management is making merely because it can (and is compensated to do). On a not unrelated note, last week, CEO James Taiclet pocketed approximately $4 million in profits from exercising options for 100,000 shares and immediately selling all of the stock.

AMT’s $4.8 billion acquisition of Global Tower Partners is astoundingly expensive – the 2014 EBITDA multiple appears to be about 19x. AMT expects that its net leverage ratio will be 5.8x after the acquisition. Management says that they expect to rapidly de-lever afterward. We question how rapidly AMT can de-lever when it is paying 19x EBITDA.