Saba Capital wants to replace EWIT's entire board with three of its own nominees. Previous attempts in 2024 and January 2025 were defeated; at a requisitioned general meeting in January, 92% of EWIT investors without links to Saba voted against Saba's resolutions. Shareholders using Fidelity platform must vote by April 24, while those on Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor, and AJ Bell must vote by April 27.
Shareholder advisory firms PIRC and ISS have recommended investors reject Saba's nominees. PIRC had concerns that Saba's three candidates could undermine board independence, while ISS said Saba had not presented a compelling case for change in control. EWIT chairman Jonathan Simpson-Dent urged shareholders to back the trust's proposed exit plan, saying the board had exhausted all other options.
If investors turn out in significant numbers, as they did in January, Saba can be defeated and shareholders can protect access to high-growth companies like SpaceX.
EWIT's biggest holding is a stake in SpaceX worth an estimated £165 million. SpaceX is planning to list later this year, potentially one of the biggest stock market floats in history, and could be worth as much as £1.3 trillion when it goes public. Weinstein's campaign centred on the trust's decision to sell down its stake in SpaceX, which he claimed defied commercial logic.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is under fire for failing to protect small shareholders in investment trusts targeted by activists. Glen Suarez, chair of Impax Environmental Markets trust, and Jonathan Simpson-Dent called on the FCA to stop raiders. The FCA has launched a review into the rules after Saba took stakes in investment trusts. Simon Walls, FCA head of markets, suggested the watchdog would be reluctant to intervene, arguing trusts could take legal action or amend articles. Simpson-Dent said he was flabbergasted by Walls' remarks. Richard Stone, head of the Association of Investment Companies, said it is deeply unjust that two trusts could be lost.
We can only hold back the tide for so long and we believe we are now at the end of the road – this decisive solution gives you a choice to opt out.
Edinburgh Worldwide and Impax have embarked on exit tender offers to give investors a chance to exit at close to net asset value. The formal close for Impax exit tender offer is 11am on April 14; for Edinburgh Worldwide it is 2pm on April 8. EWIT revealed plans to offer shareholders the chance to realise almost all of their stake in the trust, except for SpaceX holding, which would be realised at a future liquidity event like an IPO.
This tender offer represents the culmination of all other avenues being explored and reflects our expectation that a change of control is likely in the very near future.
We will see blood on the floor before the FCA takes action.
They are telling us 'just change your articles'. But we can only change them with a 75 per cent shareholder vote. When you've got an aggressor who owns 30 per cent you'll never get them changed.