JANUS HENDERSON FUND MANAGEMENT UK
LIMITED
THE EUROPEAN SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST
PLC
Legal Entity Identifier:
213800N1B1HCQG2W4V90
23 December 2024
THE EUROPEAN SMALLER
COMPANIES TRUST PLC
('ESCT'
or the 'Company')
Initial response to the
requisition for a General Meeting
ESCT's Board of Directors (the
'Board') has reviewed the requisition notice (the 'Requisition')
issued by Saba Capital Management, L.P. ('Saba') on 18 December
2024 and, having taken legal advice, the Company deems the
Requisition to be valid.
The Board does not believe there to
be any merit in Saba's proposals and will be recommending that
shareholders vote against the proposed resolutions.
The Company has delivered
outperformance against the benchmark over the medium and long-term;
as outlined in Saba's own statement, ESCT's total shareholder
return has outperformed the benchmark by 11% over the past three
years.
Furthermore, the Board operates to
the highest levels of corporate governance, is fully independent
and comprised of highly qualified individuals with a mix of
experience and backgrounds.
ESCT will make a further
announcement in early January 2025 in relation to the posting of a
notice convening a General Meeting and a circular in which the
Board will lay out its response in full. The Board advises
shareholders to take no action at this time.
James Williams, Chairman of The European Smaller Companies
Trust PLC, said:
"ESCT's successful track record speaks for itself, and the
claims of underperformance are inaccurate. In addition, we believe
that Saba's proposed actions threaten the governance of the Company
and are not in the best interests of all
shareholders."
Enquiries:
Janus Henderson Secretarial Services
UK Limited
Corporate Secretary to The European
Smaller Companies Trust PLC
+44 (0)20 7818 1818
Dan Howe
Head of Investment Trusts, Janus
Henderson Investors
+44 (0)20 7818 4458
Winterflood Securities
Limited
Corporate Broker
Neil Langford/ Rose
Ramsden
+44 (0)20 3100 0000
Edelman Smithfield
John Kiely/ Latika Shah
+44 (0)7785 275665 / +44 (0)7950 671
948