27th Feb 2026 18:21
(Alliance News) - The Association of Investment Companies on Friday called on Saba Capital to do "the decent thing" and accept Impax Environment Market's tender offer following the public fallout between the American hedge fund and the investment trust.
The comment from the association, representing 276 members with a total of GBP268 billion in assets, comes after Impax Environment's Chair Glen Suarez wrote an open letter calling out Saba for not accepting a continuation tender offer.
Saba's decision has forced Impax to proceed with an exit tender offer, Suarez said, in effect risking folding a GBP811 million trust or handing control to Saba.
Saba, with a current 22% stake in Impax Environment, reiterated that its acceptance of the continuation offer was conditioned on Impax paying the full tender costs for all shareholders who wished to exit.
Saba said: "Chairman Glen Suarez knows full well that all Impax Asset Management needed to do was say yes to paying the full tender costs and we would have participated - any claim otherwise is simply not true. For Saba, this decision was guided purely by our duty to hold management accountable to act in shareholders' best interests by covering the costs of this exit.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Suarez represents many of the structural problems within the UK NED community - namely, the implicit understanding that directors serve the manager rather than the shareholders."
AIC's Chief Executive Richard Stone said: "Saba is putting boards in an impossible position because its interests clearly do not align with other shareholders".
Saba's rejection of the continuation tender offer proposal at Impax follows a similar rejection at Herald Investment Trust PLC, as well as repeated requisitions at Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust PLC, Stone said.
Within Impax, "Saba is a minority shareholder and must respect other shareholder's views. [Saba Chief Investment Officer] Boaz Weinstein talked about being on the side of 'mom and pop investors' but he is acting against the expressed wishes of other shareholders. The repeated rejection of tender offers at close to net asset value shows that this is not about closing discounts. If he wants to take control of an investment trust, he should make an offer for other shareholders to consider", Stone added.
"We have called on the government and the regulator to act quickly to protect shareholders' interests and stop Saba exploiting the UK's much admired listed company regime. Now Boaz Weinstein needs to do the decent thing and respect other shareholders' views," he concluded.
Impax closed down 0.8% at 437.63 pence on Friday in London.
By Martin Miraglia, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Impax Asset ManagementHerald Investment TrustEdinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust