Workspace urges investors to block ‘destructive’ Saba proposals
Flexible office provider Workspace has called on investors to block “destructive” attempts by notorious activist investor Saba to force a sell-off of its properties.
The FTSE 250 firm issued a plea to shareholders on Thursday urging them to vote against each of the proposals submitted by the New York-based hedge fund to its annual general meeting later this month.
Saba’s plan to push Workspace towards an “accelerated wind-down” is “high risk, short-sighted and not suitable” for the company, it claimed.
The hedge fund, run by pugnacious founder Boaz Weinstein, is urging the property firm to ramp up efforts to sell off its property portfolio, claiming that it has identified a “disposal roadmap” and a list of potential buyers.
“Shareholder value can be realised more quickly and with substantially lower execution risk by prioritising much more significant property sales with the proceeds utilised in share buybacks over large-scale reinvestment,” Paul Kazarian, a partner at Saba, wrote in a letter last month.
Under the group’s current disposal plan, it would take “several years” to generate any meaningful returns, he claimed.
But Workspace said that the value of its properties would deteriorate if it became a “forced seller” and claimed that none of the buyers named by Saba have shown interest in a sale.
The firm’s board said it “sees a clear risk of value destruction” from the accelerated sell-off programme being advocated by Saba’s nominees for the board, who it said have “limited” real estate investment experience.
Addressing the fund’s claims that there are as many as 75 credible buyers of the company’s offices, it said: “If Saba has specific indications of interest in acquiring Workspace assets, the Board would welcome receiving them.”
Saba had pointed to Workspace’s supposed refusal to drop its asking prices as evidence that the company was dragging its heels on property disposals, claiming it sold 13 properties last year at an average discount of 7.2 per cent.
But the FTSE 250 company criticised Saba’s maths, claiming that these properties were actually sold at a 19.6 per cent discount to their value six months before their sale, rather than at the point of sale.
Workspace has sold a further three properties for an average discount of 22.3 per cent this year, it added, claiming it is already going fast enough to sell off its portfolio.
Saba has tabled six motions at the firm’s AGM on 23 July, but Workspace claimed that the fund’s plans “lack the clarity that shareholders need to make an informed decision”.
Workspace urged investors to back its plans for the company: “We are specialists in our markets, with a complex operating platform of scale. The Workspace Board has historic and detailed knowledge of our customer base and our buildings.”
Saba hit back at Workspace’s statement on Thursday, accusing its board of “years of poor strategic and capital allocation decisions”.
The fund cited a report by shareholder advisory ISS, claiming that both its own proposal and Workspace’s existing strategy pose risk for shareholder value. “The question for shareholders is not whether risk exists. It is which strategy offers the better risk-adjusted return,” Saba said.
Last month, the real estate group slashed its dividend after plunging to a £121m pre-tax loss, which was driven by nearly £160m in write-downs of property valuations amidst a changing strategy.
New boss Charlie Green – who joined in February 2026 – has sought to sell-off under-performing properties and pump cash into upgrading modern workspaces.