Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust plc

Legal Entity Identifier: 213800JUA8RKIDDLH380

20 January 2025

PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT

PROTECT YOUR TRUST

VOTE TO STOP SABA

The Board of Edinburgh Worldwide has today published notices for both its Annual General Meeting and a Requisitioned General Meeting to be held on 14 February 2025. The company's Annual General Meeting will be held immediately following the Requisitioned General Meeting. The Requisitioned General Meeting is being held at the requirement of Saba Capital Management, L.P. which has submitted a series of resolutions to remove the Board and replace it with their own appointees.

The view of the Board is that Saba's proposals represent an existential threat to the Edinburgh Worldwide that you have invested in.

THE BOARD STRONGLY RECOMMENDS THAT SHAREHOLDERS

·      VOTE AGAINST all the Saba Resolutions

·      VOTE IN FAVOUR of all the AGM Resolutions

The Circular is available at: https://www.trustEWIT.com/.

Jonathan Simpson-Dent, Chair of Edinburgh Worldwide commented: "Edinburgh Worldwide is run solely and independently for you, our Shareholders. You have chosen Edinburgh Worldwide for its unique and early access to hidden gems, ground-breaking businesses which in many cases are not available on the public markets. Let's not let Saba take that away. This is about consumer choice, allowing you the freedom to decide how, where and when to invest your money.

"I am deeply troubled by Saba's proposals. Investment trusts are extremely democratic by construction - Saba's proposals are not. Saba's overt land grab for its own end game exploits our long-standing retail Shareholder base, who usually do not vote."

Notice of Requisitioned General Meeting and Notice of Annual General Meeting

The Board of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust plc (the Company) announces that it has today published a circular (the Circular) setting out details of the Company's response to the letters and accompanying notices dated 3 January 2025  from Barclays Capital Securities Client Nominees Limited, acting as nominee of Saba Capital Management, L.P., and why the Board believes Shareholders should VOTE AGAINST ALL of the Saba Resolutions.

The Circular contains a Notice of Requisitioned General Meeting to be held on 14 February 2025 at 11.45 a.m. (the Requisitioned General Meeting) at the offices of Baillie Gifford & Co, Calton Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh EH1 3AN. For the convenience of all shareholders, it has been decided to hold the Annual General Meeting immediately afterwards and at the same location. The Board has therefore also sent out Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held on 14 February 2025 at 12 noon (or as soon thereafter as the Requisitioned General Meeting has concluded or been adjourned) (the Annual General Meeting) at the offices of Baillie Gifford & Co, Calton Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh EH1 3AN.

Why you should reject Saba's Demands and VOTE AGAINST all the Saba Resolutions

PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT

Edinburgh Worldwide offers its Shareholders a unique and exciting portfolio of publicly traded and private businesses that are operating at the frontiers of technological innovation and transformation. For retail investors in particular, this investment strategy is difficult to find elsewhere.

·    Your Trust's Manager, Baillie Gifford, has a long-term track record in the specialist arena of global smaller companies investing in both publicly traded and private businesses. The clearly differentiated strategy of Edinburgh Worldwide has delivered strong returns over the long-term.

·    Following a review of strategy conducted last year, which followed a difficult period from 2021 to 2023 as growth investing dropped out of fashion, the Board of Directors is confident that your portfolio is in good shape.  

·    Saba has timed its attempt to seize control just as the Trust is turning a corner - with Net Asset Value (NAV) having increased by 15.3% between 30 August 2024 and 31 December 2024.

PROTECT YOUR TRUST

Saba is a US hedge fund manager with no apparent track record in specialist small company investing. Its mandate would be very different to the one approved by Shareholders and, with the questionable governance framework it has proposed, risks prioritising Saba's commercial self-interest over fully independent governance and value creation for the benefit of Shareholders as a whole.

·    Saba has stated clearly that its plan is to remove the current board of directors and appoint its own directors. Saba could then appoint itself as investment manager and turn your Trust into a fund of funds vehicle - as per the plan outlined on its campaign website.

·    Your Trust's mandate would be switched from long-term investment in growth companies, into short-term arbitrage and financial engineering. This is not an alarmist warning, but rather a summary of Saba's stated strategy.

VOTE TO STOP SABA

Saba's proposals represent an existential threat to the Edinburgh Worldwide that you have invested in. Its proposal COULD be voted through unless you USE YOUR VOTE TO STOP SABA. Historically, only 15% of Edinburgh Worldwide's Shareholders vote at our shareholder meetings[1]. Saba controls just under 24% of the Trust[2]. In the Board's view, Saba's plan is partly based on an assumption that Shareholders will not vote on the Saba Resolutions.

TO STOP SABA YOU MUST VOTE
BY 11:45 A.M. ON 12 FEBRUARY 2025, ALTHOUGH PLEASE BE AWARE THAT SOME PLATFORMS MAY HAVE DEADLINES AS EARLY AS 6 FEBRUARY

For further information please contact:

Media:

Garfield Advisory

Andrew Garfield

Tel:  +44 7974 982 337

Jason Nisse

Tel: + 44 7769 686618

Teneo

[email protected]

Iain Dey

Tel: +44 7976 295906

Giles Kernick

Tel: +44 7817 913082

Investors:

Deutsche Numis

David Benda

Nathan Brown

Tel: +44 20 7260 1000

Baillie Gifford & Co

Naomi Cherry

Tel: +44 131 275 2000

Notes

Capitalised terms used in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the Circular, unless otherwise defined in this announcement.