Saba Capital Exposes Over 5% Stake in Unite Group, UK’s Largest Student Housing Firm
Saba Capital's Investment and Implications for Unite Group
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Activist investor Saba Capital has built an over 5% exposure in Britain's largest student housing provider Unite Group, a regulatory filing showed on Wednesday.
Details of Saba Capital’s Stake
Here are some more details and context:
Breakdown of Voting Rights
• Boaz Weinstein's Saba Capital held 0.084% of voting rights through shares and 5.04% through financial instruments, taking its total interest in Unite Group to nearly 26.4 million voting rights as of July 31, the filing showed.
Shareholder Position
• Saba will become Unite's fourth largest shareholder, according to LSEG data.
Context: Saba’s Broader Activism
Push for Changes at Workspace
• The disclosure comes as Saba pushes for changes at flexible office-space provider Workspace, including to its board, as it raised its stake over the past few months to become its largest shareholder.
Unite Group’s Strategic Response
Asset Sales and Focus Shift
• Unite Group, which reaffirmed its annual forecast in July, has been weighing the sale of its lower-yielding assets to sharpen focus on more resilient services as economic uncertainty and tighter visa rules weigh on enrolments.
Responses from Saba and Unite
• Saba did not immediately respond to Reuters request for additional details, while Unite declined to comment.
(Reporting by Neeshita Beura and Krisha Bhatt in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
