Investor Saba Capital seeks board overhaul at UK's Workspace, pushes asset sales

Workspace

Yesterday 08:05

    June 17 (Reuters) - 
    Activist investor Saba Capital Management on Wednesday sought to replace the non-executive directors of Workspace Group WKP.L, arguing the office-space provider's roughly 50% discount to net asset value reflects years of underperformance and strategic missteps.
  

    The hedge fund, which owns 24.7% of Workspace, is pushing for faster property disposals and share buybacks instead of the company's reinvestment strategy.  
  

Here are some details:
• Saba submitted a requisition in May to replace Workspace's "incumbent" non-executive directors with six nominees including Nick Shattock who previously served on the board of the UK Ministry of Housing's Defence Infrastructure Organisation
• The activist investor claimed its dispose-and-repurchase strategy generates an implied return of approximately 100% at the current 50% discount to NAV, compared to management's multi-year earnings growth plan
• Saba also said it has identified a disposal roadmap comprising 56 properties 
• Workspace unveiled a "transformation to an earnings-focused business" strategy on June 10 that reinvests disposal proceeds into property upgrades to grow rental income
• Saba began building its stake in August 2025 and first approached Workspace's management privately in November last year before going public with an open letter in January 2026
• The fund is proposing Workspace also outsource property management functions and adopt a more disciplined refurbishment programme focused on selected assets
• Workspace which rejected Saba's to wind down the business over 12 months  in May did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment
     

 (Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
 ((DhanushVignesh.Babu@thomsonreuters.com))