EWIT control favours Saba after tender plan rejected – Daily Business

Jonathan Simpson-Dent: a disappointing outcome (pic: DB Media Services)

New York hedge fund Saba Capital Management has scored a significant victory in its bid to take control of an Edinburgh investment trust.

Shareholders in the Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust failed to back a tender offer intended to provide them with a “deliverable and fair exit option to avoid ending up in a Saba-controlled vehicle.”

Investors have twice overwhelmingly rejected proposals by Saba – which include installing three nominated directors on to the board – but support for today’s resolution garnered 46% in favour and 53.8% against.

Trust chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent said: “This is a very disappointing outcome, particularly given the continued strength of support from independent shareholders who have consistently rejected Saba’s plan for control.

“This process clearly demonstrates the extent to which the current framework allows a determined minority shareholder to exert disproportionate influence, even where its objectives diverge from those of the wider shareholder base.

“As previously outlined, there remains a high likelihood of Saba succeeding in appointing its proposed new board at the forthcoming AGM on 30 April 2026, which would likely lead to a change in manager and a fundamental shift in the company’s strategy and investment mandate. Today’s outcome only increases this likelihood.”

Mr Simpson-Dent said that “faced with this reality”, the board is making plans to implement the alternative tender offers that Saba has publicly stated it would recommend “and which will at least give shareholders the choice of exiting at close to NAV or remaining invested”.

He added: “We trust that any new directors will also endorse this new approach, as well as providing shareholders with greater clarity on their intentions regarding the Company’s likely future direction.

“While this is not the outcome we would have preferred, we believe that implementing the alternative tender offers is the most pragmatic course of action in the circumstances, reflecting the expressed wishes of shareholders together with the recommendation directly proposed by Saba.”

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