Alliance Trust offers to buy back entire stake from activist Elliott

Initiating share repurchase programme

Alliance Trust has entered into an agreement with its largest shareholder Elliott Advisors to repurchase all of its nearly 20% stake in the trust.

Activist hedge fund Elliott currently has a disclosable interest of 19.75% in the company, after it became heavily involved in calling for the trust's restructure in 2015.  The activist pushed for the appointment of non-executive directors on the trust's board, among other changed, which results in Alliance Trust appointing two of the hedge fund's proposed candidates, ex-SG Warburg executive Anthony Brooke and Dunedin Income Growth trust chairman Rory Macnamara, to the board of directors. Until now, Elliott has been left out of the share buyback plans, though the trust has already rep...