16th Mar 2026 10:43
(Alliance News) - Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust PLC on Monday recommended that its shareholders vote in favour of the tender offer it is proposing to "protect" their investments, amid the clash between the board and activist investor Saba Capital Management LP.
The investment trust, which gave the recommendation in a letter to shareholders by its Chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent titled "act now to protect your investment before Saba takes control", said that it remains under "persistent attack" and finds itself at a "defining moment".
If approved, the tender offer announced last week would give investors the option to tender their shares at a value close to net asset value while retaining the investment in Space Exploration Technologies Corp, or SpaceX, until a "future liquidity event".
"The same cannot be said for the proposed Saba tender offer which we believe means you will be expected to walk away from SpaceX at its previous valuation", Simpson-Dent said.
SpaceX is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering in the US, so the private investment by the trust is believed to have potential upsides.
Ewit also reminded investors the deadline to vote ends on April 8, even though some platforms have deadlines as early as March 30.
The trust said that Saba "has confirmed its objectives in our recent discussions", aiming for a new board that it would expect to appoint a new portfolio manager.
"Saba has a clear desire to assume control of the company's management in order to pursue its own commercial objectives and to alter the investment mandate away from long-term global technological innovation and into what we understand will be opportunistic investment trust discount trading", Simpson-Dent said.
"Saba will not back down until it has broken the status quo and grabbed control of the company's agenda and future direction", he added, saying that there are currently no mechanisms preventing a minority shareholder from replacing a board with its nominees "who can then appoint their proposer as manager without proper conflict of interest scrutiny".
While Edinburgh Worldwide Investment's and other similar cases appear to have prompted a review of the rules on listed investment companies by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, the regulator expects the process to end later this year.
The tender offer is timed to pre-empt a change in control of the trust, an event Ewit sees as having a "high probability".
The trust believes Saba is "likely to succeed" in installing a new board at the next annual general meeting which must be held before the of April. "Shareholders must ask themselves - is this the future you want for your investment?", the company said.
It also urged for high turnout in this vote, as given Saba's 30% stake in the trust, "achieving this will require strong participation, at least comparable to the turnout in January".
Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust shares were down 1.2% at 221.25 pence each on Monday morning in London.
By Martin Miraglia, Alliance News reporter
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