Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) has issued a new statement as it hits back against Saba’s latest requisition notice. The board says that it recommends that shareholders take no action and await a further announcement from the company.
The chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent had this to say:
“Saba has for a second time launched a power grab calling for the entire board to be replaced with US candidates of their own choosing. Their goal is clear – to gain control of the company to prioritise their own commercial interests.
Saba’s letter does not acknowledge the significant progress EWIT has achieved since this board reset the company on a path for growth a year ago. Since then, NAV total return has been +13.1%, well ahead of the S&P Global Small Cap Index (+5.0%), the company’s benchmark index.
Furthermore, the company’s proactive steps over the last year have supported a tightly managed discount, currently 5.4%, significantly narrower than the Global Smaller Companies peer group weighted average discount of 11.0%.
Shareholders should not be fooled by this US hedge fund’s claims. This board remains fully committed to serving the best interests of all shareholders. Saba’s proposal would result in a board answerable to only one.”
QuotedData’s James Carthew said: “You already know whose side I am on here. I think that, after a difficult period, the revamped Edinburgh Worldwide is showing much more promise. It would be daft to knock that on the head now, whether that is by handing control to Saba to do god knows what or merging it into Baillie Gifford US Growth.“
In a separate announcement, Saba has revealed its proposed slate of directors for EWI. They are:
- Gabi Gliksberg: founder & managing partner of ATG Capital Management, with 15+ years of investment management experience and prior service as a board member at SafeAuto and the Tortoise Energy Independence Fund.
- Michael Joseph, CFA: portfolio manager & deputy CIO at Stansberry Asset Management and author of “A Dollar for Fifty Cents: Proven Strategies to Outperform the Market with Closed-End Funds,” with 15+ years of experience overseeing multi-asset portfolios with diverse strategies.
- Jassen Trenkow: former finance and banking executive with 20+ years of experience, including senior positions at Barclays and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Saba says “To source these nominees, we intentionally avoided the traditional small UK network of repeat non-executive directors who often sit together on multiple trust boards. This entrenched system of familiarity and industry ‘cosiness’ often weakens accountability and contributes to persistent underperformance, double-digit discounts and decisions that protect the interests of managers rather than shareholders.” That sits rather at odds with the repeated tales I have been hearing of UK directors being approached and turning Saba down. It really isn’t a good idea to have a board comprised of directors selected by a single shareholder, or a board with zero experience of UK company law or UK corporate governance.
