The Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) trust has completed its exit tender offer, bringing an end to its long-drawn-out battle with US hedge fund Saba Capital.
The vote for the tender offer passed with a 99.97% majority, leaving just 0.03% of voters who voted in opposition.
The tender offer was initially announced in March, following a battle between the trust and its biggest shareholder, Saba.
At the time, Saba had accused the Impax chair, Glen Suarez, of serving managers instead of shareholders and of frequent underperformance. Meanwhile, Suarez criticised the activist for acting against other shareholders’ interests.
See also: Impax Environmental Markets publishes exit tender offer amid Saba fall-out
Speaking following the successful vote on the tender offer, Suarez said: “While the board firmly believes this is the right outcome, there will be no celebration of today’s successful vote as the vast majority of shareholders have long supported IEM and its unique environmental markets mandate.”
Richard Stone, chief executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), agreed that while the vote allows shareholders to escape being “trapped in a Saba-controlled vehicle”, it’s another loss for the sector.
“It’s infuriating that this is likely to result in the loss of a unique investment trust which nearly nine in 10 shareholders backed in a continuation vote last year,” he noted.
See also: ‘A disappointing outcome’: Edinburgh Worldwide shareholders reject tender offer
However, just 46.13% of the issued share capital cast their vote, a “surprisingly low turnout for such an important question,” according to James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData.
“That suggests to us that Saba did not vote,” Carthew added.
With the tender offer now set to go ahead, there are still questions for investors, according to Carthew.
“It feels inevitable to us that there will be some shares that were not tendered, and the fate of those shareholders and the rump trust is, as yet, unknown.”
Currently, it is also unclear whether Saba tendered any of its shares and, if not, if the vehicle may persist under Saba control, which raises its own issues around US control or too little free float, the QuotedData analyst concluded.
The market will have to wait until 21 April to find out exactly how many shares have been tendered, when the board plans to release further information.