CG Asset Management has gained the support of stockbroker Albert E Sharp and Hawksmoor Investment Management for its campaign against the proposed merger of HICL Infrastructure (HICL) and Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), for which it has launched a dedicated website.
CGAM says the concernedhiclshareholders website is designed to be a forum for shareholders to share their views and to encourage HICL investors to vote next month against a deal it believes is damaging to their interests.
The firm, manager of Capital Gearing Trust (CGT), says it has been “overwhelmed” by the response from institutional and private shareholders since it published an open letter on 17 November to HICL chair Mike Bane setting out its concerns.
“Sometimes as individual shareholders it is easy to feel powerless. We have heard from shareholders who have said that their concerns were dismissed by the company, that they were the only one objecting to the transaction.
“Our aim with this website is to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and that the board understand the depth of feeling among both institutional and private shareholders.
“This is an opportunity to put shareholder democracy into action,” it says.
CGAM’s management team of founder Peter Spiller, chief executive Alastair Laing and co-chief investment officer Chris Clothier have written a second letter to Bane. In it they reiterate their view of a lack of strategic rationale for the £5.3bn merger of equals between the two investment companies in different sectors and the absence of benefits for HICL, whose shares trade on a narrower discount reflective of the greater stability in its portfolio.
Eleven companies have signed the letter with CGAM. They also include Achilles Investment Company (AIC), the activist investor whose launch this year it backed, and City Asset Management, the wealth manager that also publicly criticised the proposed merger.
Other signatories include Almitas Capital, Credo Capital, Doherty Pension & Investment Consultancy, EQ Investors, TrinityBridge and W1M Wealth & Investment Management.
