PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) today announced that the independent nominees on both the Company’s and the Toby Rice Group’s slates sent an open letter to shareholders. The text of the letter follows below:

Dear Fellow Shareholder:

As the independent director nominees supported by both EQT and the Toby Rice Group, we feel it is important to communicate directly to shareholders in advance of the upcoming Annual Meeting. We share the frustration some have expressed regarding the old EQT and the Company’s share price performance. It is our belief that EQT’s 12 director nominees are best suited to oversee EQT’s operations and continue its transformation into a free cash flow leader. If elected, the new EQT Board will be one of the most, if not the most, experienced and diverse boards in the E&P industry; nine of 12 directors will have direct oil and gas industry upstream experience, and nine of 12 will have been elected since 2017.

EQT’s director nominees have no personal agendas and are not connected, related or beholden to the Company’s management team. We are committed to holding management accountable to deliver superior results and to operate responsibly and sustainably.

Over the last six months, the EQT team has significantly improved EQT’s financial and operating results while reducing costs. The Company has delivered three consecutive quarters of strong performance and is on track to achieve $300 to $400 million of adjusted free cash flow1 in 2019 and at least $3 billion1 through 2023. We have been impressed with management’s progress in the currently challenging operating environment. While we are pleased with recent results and believe that management has solved the legacy issues of the old EQT, as directors we will demand that the management team build on and accelerate its progress.

Earlier this year, EQT strengthened its talent further with the appointment of Gary Gould as Chief Operating Officer. Gary has more than three decades of relevant industry experience and he has already proven invaluable in the Company’s ongoing work to capture more operating efficiencies. This refreshed team has also demonstrated its ability to develop and utilize cutting-edge technologies to improve operations and accelerate free cash flow growth. Over the past six months, the new leadership has removed more than $175 million of run-rate costs under its efforts and the Target 10% savings initiative, and reduced the Company’s debt by more than $500 million. The Target 10% Initiative is not EQT’s ultimate objective; it is a milestone that we are confident EQT will achieve and surpass. If there are more savings to be realized, the Board and management team will find them.

EQT has been through enormous disruption over the last two years, from the numerous complex transactions to facilitate the spin-off of Equitrans Midstream Corporation to substantial turnover in the C-suite. In seven short months, the new EQT management team has implemented a profound cultural shift across the organization with an emphasis on accountability, collaboration and transparency. We believe this management team’s performance over the last three quarters has earned it the chance to show that it can achieve the continued turnaround we seek. Employees are now energized and passionate about the new EQT and committed to doing their part to drive strong results for shareholders. We believe that exposing the Company to further turnover, disruption and execution risk would be counterproductive.

However, we are fully cognizant that our role as independent directors is to hold management accountable for the Company’s performance. If this management team fails to deliver, we are committed to finding the most highly qualified and experienced candidates for those roles.

Shareholders can help to ensure EQT remains on the best path forward by supporting the Company’s slate of independent directors: vote today by telephone, internet or by signing, dating and returning the GOLD universal proxy card.

Sincerely,

Dr. Philip Behrman, Janet L. Carrig, James T. McManus II, Anita M. Powers, Stephen A. Thorington

EQT yesterday filed a supplemental investor presentation, which can be accessed on www.VoteGoldForEQT.com/presentations/.