26th Aug 2026 11:35
(Alliance News) - Activist investor Saba Capital Management LP on Wednesday said it is asking shareholders of Gore Street Energy Storage Fund PLC whether the company should continue as an investment company.
Gore Street is an investor in utility-scale battery energy storage systems, in which Saba has a stake of around 18%.
On Friday, Gore Street's board had unanimously recommended shareholders vote against Saba's resolutions 16 and 17 at the upcoming annual general meeting that will be held on September 16.
Gore Street highlighted that Saba "is relying on other shareholders not voting their shares" at the AGM.
Gore Street Chair Angus Lennox on Friday said: "We are concerned about the future of the company and the value-destructive impact should the Saba resolutions pass. The refreshed board, in undertaking its comprehensive review earlier this year, prior to establishing the updated strategy, considered all options for the company's portfolio including a wind-down, but assessed a whole portfolio sale to be highly challenging in current market conditions, and therefore not the best route to maximising shareholder value."
Saba on Wednesday said it "wrote privately to the board twice this year, first asking it to run a tender for a new manager, then warning that its revised strategy would not fix the discount."
It added: "Both requests were ignored. Six months later, even after the board cut NAV by 27% over the year, the shares still trade at a discount of around 35% to that reduced figure, and the dividend is covered just 0.28 times by operational earnings. That is the record the board asks shareholders to endorse."
Further, Saba criticised the "cherry-picked sale of the Kilmannock and Mucklagh projects was to another fund managed by the company's own investment manager" for which Gore Street "will not disclose the price", saying: "If the process was as robust as the board says, disclosure costs it nothing."
Gore Street on Thursday had announced the sale of the assets, which it said were in line with the "refreshed board's updated strategy" as announced back in March. Gore Street said it cannot disclose the exact value of the transaction due to "commercial sensitivity".
Saba said: "It will not disclose the price, only that it was 'no less than the values ascribed for these assets in the most recently published NAV'. That is a weak assurance, because the board has been cutting carrying values across the book, with group NAV down around 15% in the last quarter alone. It has not said how many parties bid, or why a competitive process ended with a sale to a fund run by its own manager. The adviser the board calls independent, Alexa Capital, has had commercial dealings involving Gore Street since at least 2020."
Gore Street shares fell 1.8% to 47.44 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
Saba in recent months has shown increased interest in several London-listed companies.
On Monday, Saba issued a resolution notice proposing to elect three new directors to Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust PLC's board.
Saba proposed Jason Chen, Thomas McGlade and James Waterlow as directors. Saba recommended that, if elected, the nominees offer US shareholders an option for a full cash exit at or near net asset value.
In December last year, Saba had blocked a proposed merger between the trust and Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust PLC, also managed by Baillie Gifford.
Saba took control of Edinburgh Worldwide in April, ousting its board after a stand-off that lasted more than a year.
In June, Saba successfully appointed its nominees to the board of another FTSE250 listing, Impax Environmental Markets PLC.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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Related Shares:
Gore Street En.Baillie Gifford US Growth TrustEdinburgh Worldwide Investment TrustImpax Asset Management