Baillie Gifford 'still has work to do' to win over European Growth Trust investors

Oversubscribed tender offer

Baillie Gifford still has a lot of work to do to win over investors in its European Growth Trust, according to analysts, after more than half of its shareholder base said they wanted to sell their shares.

Baillie Gifford took over the trust's management from Edinburgh Partners in November, appointing its European equities team led by Stephen Paice and Moritz Sitte as portfolio managers. As part of the move, it offered to re-purchase up to 10%, or around 4m, of its share capital for those investors keen to exit at a discount to net asset value. The board announced on Monday (3 February) that 53.5% of its shareholders, equivalent to 21.5m shares, had subscribed to the tender, meaning the offer will be scaled back accordingly. Baillie Gifford's Mileva: Hargreaves Lansdown needs to 'gro...