Edinburgh Worldwide's new board plans tender offer after SpaceX IPO
The newly elected board of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust PLC on Thursday said it will pursue a tender offer as soon as possible following the public debut of investee Space Exploration Technology Corp.
EWIT, an Edinburgh-based investment firm, confirmed in April that activist investor Saba Capital Management LP had succeeded in ousting its board, which was replaced by Saba’s nominees: Gabriel Gliksberg, Jassen Trenkow and Michael Joseph.
Resolutions to re-elect EWIT’s existing board and former chair, Jonathan Simpson-Dent, did not pass, as votes cast were approximately 39% in favour and 61% against. Saba held a majority stake of roughly 30% in EWIT at the time.
The New York-based hedge fund had attempted and failed to have its nominees elected earlier this year, and previously in 2025. Saba holds interests in several UK-listed funds, where its activities have prompted accusations of seeking control over its investees.
A key issue in the long-running saga between Saba and EWIT has been the latter’s exposure to SpaceX.
Had it been re-elected, EWIT’s old management had planned an initial tender offer for 50% of the company’s issued share capital, followed by a second tender offer for up to 100% of capital, following any initial public offer of SpaceX.
On Thursday, EWIT’s new board noted that Tesla Inc owner Elon Musk’s space venture is eyeing a Nasdaq listing in mid-June.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, SpaceX said it aimed to raise $75 billion upon listing by selling only a fraction of its equity, offering 555.6 million shares at an initial price of $135 each. With some 13 billion shares outstanding, the company would be valued at $1.765 trillion upon admission to trading.
Analysts at Morningstar, however, have valued SpaceX at around half of this target.
In a research report published on Monday, Morningstar valued the rocket and satellite company at $780 billion and argued that investors will have opportunities to buy the stock at more attractive levels after the IPO.
Morningstar estimates an enterprise value of $611 billion, with a slower-growth scenario for Starlink after 2028 potentially reducing that estimate by $65 billion. A probability-weighted average of three wide-ranging AI scenarios adds $170 billion to its overall valuation estimate.
Back in February, SpaceX took over Musk’s artificial intelligence firm, xAI, which itself had absorbed the X social network, formerly known as Twitter, a year earlier.
EWIT’s new board stressed that it is ‘committed to providing shareholders with a liquidity opportunity and intends to pursue a tender offer as soon as reasonably practicable following a SpaceX IPO and the expiry of any applicable lock-up restrictions affecting the company’s holding in SpaceX’.
The board intends to focus on the timing and amount of potential SpaceX stock disposals as it continues to engage with shareholders. It said it is ‘continuing to work closely with [investment manager] Baillie Gifford regarding the company’s holding in SpaceX and potential future liquidity’.
The new board also said it is reviewing EWIT’s governance arrangements, third-party service providers and the proposed appointment of additional directors.
‘The board recognises that retail shareholders are an important component of the company’s investor base and will continue to have regard to their interests alongside those of all shareholders when making decisions regarding the future direction of the company,’ EWIT said on Thursday.
It plans to update further in its results announcement for the six months ended April 30.
In April, Saba confirmed that it would submit itself for consideration as EWIT’s new investment manager, having accused EWIT’s past directors of failing to address underperformance.
EWIT shares traded 0.4% lower at 276.00 pence on Thursday morning in London, having risen 35% over the past six months and 67% over the past year. The stock is down 16% over the past five years.
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