10th Mar 2026 14:06
(Correcting that Saba rejected EWIT's merger proposal with Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust, and not the contrary)
(Alliance News) - Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust PLC on Tuesday announced it is urging shareholders to vote for a proposal to implement a 100% tender offer, saying that Saba Capital Management LP left it no alternative.
Under this proposal, however, investors would keep access to EWIT's largest shareholding, SpaceX, by preserving exposure until a "future liquidity event", following which shareholders would receive a further cash payment, a move the Scotland-based global investment trust calls "regrettable but necessary...to protect shareholders from being trapped by Saba".
New York-based hedge fund Saba in February proposed three new directors for EWIT, of which Saba is the largest shareholder, with around 30%.
Saba has proposed to appoint Gabriel Gliksberg, Michael Joseph and Jassen Trenkow to the board.
EWIT Chair Jonathon Simpson-Dent had said: "For the third time, Saba is seeking to replace the entire independent board with its own nominees in order to take control of the company."
Gliksberg is the founder of ATG Capital Management, Joseph is a chartered accountant and deputy chief investment officer of Stansberry Asset Management and Trenkow is a former staffer of Barclays PLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The tender offer announced Tuesday would see shareholders receive about 85% of the invested capital in cash at close to net asset value from the disposition of the trust's liquid assets, with a further 15% deferred until the crystallisation of SpaceX value within the next 12 months.
SpaceX makes up 16.6% of Edinburgh Worldwide's GBP758.3 million assets.
The move sets a final showdown between the trust and Saba Capital, two months after Saba rejected Edinburgh Worldwide's proposal to merge with another Edinburgh-based trust, Baillie Gifford US Growth, and over a year after Saba attempted to oust EWIT's board.
Saba owns a stake of about 30% in both Edinburgh Worldwide and Baillie Gifford US Growth.
"We have reached the end of the road with Saba's obsession to break the status quo and its continuing disregard for the expressed wishes of other shareholders", Edinburgh Worldwide's Chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent said, explaining the choice to all but formally close the trust.
"Shareholders have twice delivered a clear message by rejecting Saba's attempts to take control of the company. Yet within weeks Saba launched a third campaign, proposing board nominees already rejected and a proposal that would effectively force shareholders to choose between remaining in a Saba-controlled vehicle or giving up any future upside from SpaceX," he added.
He also said that "these repeated actions have created prolonged uncertainty, imposed significant costs on the company and distracted from executing a strategy that is delivering value. We cannot allow the company to remain caught in a cycle of disruption driven by a minority shareholder whose objectives and commercial self-interest are fundamentally misaligned with those of the wider shareholder base."
Edinburgh Worldwide added it is frustrated by the current regulatory framework permitting "a determined minority shareholder to effectively gain board and managerial control" while opposing the desires of other shareholders, and claims that despite having "galvanised" the Financial Conduct Authority into action, "addressing this systemic problem will take longer than Saba's repeat smash and grab cycle...it is only a matter of time before Saba succeeds".
The FCA announced last week it has started a review of the application of UK listing rules to investment entities, saying that "these eligibility criteria, particularly regarding risk-spreading, may be unduly restrictive".
"As part of this review, we will also conduct targeted work to assess how our rules, in the context of company law, ensure that boards support strong shareholder rights and engagement and manage conflicts of interests," the authority added, eyeing to set its proposals in a consultation paper and complete its work by the end of the year.
The tender offer proposal at NAV minus costs differs from Saba's past resolutions for retaining SpaceX shares for another year. Saba will have to choose whether to participate, or likely remain the only significant investor in Edinburgh Worldwide.
The proposal is similar to what Impax Environmental Markets PLC, which finds itself under similar circumstances, is expected to put forward by the end of the quarter after Saba rejected a tender offer to exit the trust earlier this month.
Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust shares were up 2.9% to 227.50 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
By Martin Miraglia, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Edinburgh Worldwide Investment TrustImpax Asset ManagementBaillie Gifford US Growth Trust