Reports originating in the Telegraph allege that Martin Glibert, Aberdeen’s CEO, said: "Aberdeen would love the opportunity, if the board ever did put it out to tender, to pitch for the trust."
But Cade said while this statement does amount to "putting its hat in the ring early", Aberdeen is not at this point attempting to "oust" the current chief investment officer at Alliance Trust, Katherine Garrett-Cox, as subsequent reports have suggested.
He added that Aberdeen was unlikely to make a hostile bid for the investment trust, since historically such approaches have failed and the board of the trust either decides to stick with the current manager or appoints somebody else in a tender offer.
Rumours started to circulate following another attack on Alliance Trust’s management style from shareholder Laxey, which has a 1.7% holding.
Activist shareholder
The activist shareholder, run by Colin Kingsnorth, requisitioned the £2.1bn trust’s board for the second time in just over a year demanding a consideration to outsource the fund management of the trust and to narrow the discount.
Last year Laxey requisitioned the trust to put forward a proposal to introduce a strict share buyback policy, a move that subsequently was voted down.
Cade said of Laxey’s latest action: "Laxey Partners has proved to be a notable thorn in the side for Alliance Trust over the past 18 months. Despite owning a stake of just 1.7%, it has taken up a considerable amount of board and management time, not to mention costs to the company of £2.5m.
"It is not clear to us what the latest proposals are seeking to achieve, other than an exit at a tighter discount for Laxey itself. The board/management are already focused on delivering improved performance and have made a commitment to protecting the discount through share buybacks."
Changes in place
Cade added that with a new chairman appointed and changes made by Garrett-Cox including the recruitment of a new global team there is unlikely to be the appetite among other Alliance Trust shareholders to support Laxey’s most recent stance.
On the Aberdeen point, Cade concluded, "A hostile approach could follow a number of paths, it could write to the board, do it publicly, or it could offer shareholders cash or shares in another vehicle. But unless you have board support, those sorts of actions are rarely successful."
Aberdeen declined to comment any further on the matter.
